News / Egypt

Roadside bomb kills six soldiers in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula

Tuesday, 31 May 2016 12:32 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 31 May 2016 12:33 PM ]

Egyptian army forces patrol a street in the North Sinai border town of Rafah, November 4, 2014. (Photo by AFP)

At least six soldiers have been killed in Egypt in a roadside bomb explosion that struck their armored vehicle in the North African country’s volatile Sinai Peninsula, security and medical sources say.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the casualties were caused when an explosive device targeted the soldiers’ military vehicle in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula on Tuesday.

Another six troopers were also injured in the blast.

No individual or group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, but militants loyal to the Daesh terrorist group have been behind numerous similar attacks throughout the volatile peninsula in the past.

In recent months, Egypt’s army and security forces have been cracking down on militants affiliated with Daesh. The government in Cairo believes terrorists are using the volatile region as a safe haven.

Sinai Peninsula has been under a state of emergency since October 2014, following a deadly terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 33 soldiers.

Egyptian residents and emergency personnel gather at the site of a car bomb explosion that targeted a police station in North Sinai’s provincial capital of el-Arish, April 12, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

In recent years, militants have been carrying out anti-government activities and deadly attacks in Sinai, taking advantage of the turmoil caused after democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the military in July 2013.

Militants from the Takfiri Velayat Sinai group have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks, mainly targeting the army and police.

In November 2014, the group pledged allegiance to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which is mainly wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria.

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