14 October 2016•Update: 14 October 2016
By Hussein Mahmoud
CAIRO
Twelve military personnel were killed and another eight injured Friday when unidentified gunmen attacked an army checkpoint in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
According to local media reports, the attack targeted an army checkpoint in the peninsula’s northeast some 40 kilometers from the town of Bir al-Abd.
The injured have reportedly been transferred to a military hospital in the nearby city of Al-Arish.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.
Since mid-2013, when Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt’s first freely-elected president -- was ousted in a military coup, hundreds of Egyptian security personnel have been killed in Sinai amid an ongoing militant insurgency.
Egyptian security forces have continued to wage a fierce campaign, involving elements from both the police and army, against what they describe as Sinai-based "terrorist groups".
Egypt’s army-backed authorities say they are battling the "Welayat Sinai" ("Province of Sinai"), which is said to have links to the Daesh terrorist group.
