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Some 50 Egyptian army personnel killed and injured Sinai

October 17, 2017 at 1:34 am

Egyptians security guard between Egypt and Gaza Strip on 11 February 2017 [Ashraf Amra/Apaimages]

Amid the mounting number of death and injury cases, militant clashes between the Egyptian army soldiers and the so-called Takfiri groups continue for the fifth day in the north Sinai Peninsula city of Al-Arish.

According to the army’s official data, some 50 Egyptian military soldiers have been killed and injured over the past few days. The army predicted an increase in the number of victims during the coming period.

The Egyptian army has always been discreet about its losses. Its official statements usually reveal about a small number of the dead soldiers, while in fact, dozens of the army personnel die on a daily basis.

Al-Arish has been regarded as the most “hot area” in Egypt, as it witnesses bloody attacks by Daesh against several Egyptian police ambushes.

Official security and medical sources reported that eight people, including policemen and civilians, were killed while 17 others were injured in clashes which erupted today in Al-Arish between the Egyptian security forces and Daesh gunmen.

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The terrorist attack has targeted three security checkpoints located near the Mary Girgis Church in Arish and the other close to a branch of the state-run National Bank of Egypt (NBE). The attackers have managed to escape after stealing money from the bank’s treasury.

Last Friday, terrorist militants attacked a security checkpoint Al-Arish with grenades and automatic fire killing six army soldiers, according to a statement by the army.

Daesh-affiliated news websites recently announced that 14 Egyptian army soldiers were killed in a suicide attack by the group’s fighters last Sunday on the headquarters of the Egyptian army 101 Battalion in the east of Al-Arish. The army denied the news, stressing that there were no death cases or injuries incurred during the attack.

Over the past three days, the army also revealed about several attacks by militants on security checkpoints had been foiled, with dozens of militants killed.

The Islamist militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, which alleged allegiance to the Daesh, has claimed responsibility for most of the deadly attacks on security forces in North Sinai in the past four years.