Egypt: Militants Kill 11 Soldiers in Sinai
Islamist militants killed at least 11 Egyptian soldiers in a wave of attacks Wednesday against military checkpoints in the Sinai Peninsula, security officials said.
The attacks targeted at least five checkpoints, including a suicide car bombing near the town of Sheikh Zuweid.
Militants in Sinai have repeatedly gone after Egyptian security forces with bombings and shootings, particularly since the 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by then-army chief and current President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi.
The latest attacks come days after Egypt’s top prosecutor Hisham Barakat was killed by a roadside bomb in Cairo.
Sissi responded Tuesday by vowing to strengthen anti-terrorism laws and blaming Morsi’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood for Barakat’s death.
The prosecutor had overseen the cases against thousands of Islamists, who have been jailed and convicted in mass trials as part of a massive crackdown since Morsi was pushed from office.
