Egypt: 4 police officers killed in attack at Sinai security facility

At least four Egyptian police officers were killed in a shooting attack yesterday at a heavily fortified security facility in the restive Sinai Peninsula, according to AP, citing two local security and health officials. One of the victims was a senior officer.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources also disclosed that at least 21 other forces were wounded in the attack at the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters in El-Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai.

A list of casualties obtained by news agency showed that some forces suffered from gunshots while others faced breathing difficulties from tear gas that was fired inside the facility. There were eight officers among the wounded, the list showed.

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Local news site Mada Masr reported yesterday that despite the strict entry procedures at the NSA facility, clashes erupted in the early hours. The NSA facility also houses the North Sinai security directorate, the governorate administrative building, the General Intelligence Services headquarters and the North Sinai Criminal Court.

With gunfire coming from the complex, all communication in North Sinai was cut, the local sources told Mada Masr. Other sources said that the gun battle went on for six hours while a civilian working in the North Sinai security directorate revealed that security personnel locked the directorate building and prevented any employees from leaving or entering the building.

Egyptian security forces have been fighting against a Daesh-affiliated insurgency in the Sinai since 2011, which intensified two years later following the Saudi and UAE-backed military coup led by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi against his predecessor, the late Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected civilian president. In the process, Egyptian authorities have been accused of committing war crimes and serious abuses against civilians.

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