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A car bomb exploded on an army checkpoint in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Friday, killing 17 and injuring 22 Egyptian soldiers. The attack took place near El-Arish, the biggest town in the Sinai province. The military sometimes operates in plain view in north Sinai, often setting up impromptu checkpoints.
Extremists in Sinai have killed several soldiers and policemen since the army overthrew former President Mohamed Morsi last year. The attack on Friday was the most lethal attacks on security forces in weeks, with most of the wounded in serious condition.
“Most of the wounded have been seriously injured and not all of them have been taken to hospital yet”, health ministry official Tareq Khater said.
On Wednesday, a bomb blew up outside Cairo University, injuring three pedestrians and nine policemen; the explosion happened near the site of an explosion in April which had killed a police general.
On Sunday, a roadside bomb blew up near gas pipeline in Sinai, killing seven soldiers in the process. In September, 17 policemen were killed by militants in Sinai in two bomb attacks, which were claimed by Egypt’s most active militant group the Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, who later released footage of the bombings. The group had tried to kill Egypt’s interior minister in Cairo with a car bomb last year. It has also expressed support for extremist group Islamic State (IS), but has not pledged allegiance formally.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has expressed intent to eradicate the militants responsible for the attacks. The Egyptian military has stated that it has killed 22 militants, including an Ansar Beit al-Maqdis commander, this month; the group has also acknowledged the deaths and the arrest. However, the military has not been able to crush the group despite a huge operation involving helicopter and tank attacks.