At least nine policemen were killed and 14 others were injured on Monday when suicide bombers rammed a garbage truck packed with explosives into an Egyptian security checkpoint, the latest attack in the restive North Sinai governorate.
The attack in el-Masaeed district of Al-Arish city was carried out by members of Ansar Beit el-Maqdes, a Sinai-based militant group which pledged allegiance to ISIS in 2014. The attackers also opened fire on the security post after ramming the truck packed with explosives into the checkpoint.
However, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. The terrorists used a garbage truck, which was stolen earlier from the municipality of el-Arish. The 14 persons injured include four civilians, police said.
Reports said other civilians who live near the explosion site may have been killed, but there was no confirmed numbers. Egypt's North Sinai has been the stage for many terrorist attacks since the January 2011 revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.
The attacks, mainly targeting police and military officials, increased after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by military following massive protests against his rule. Hundreds of security personnel have been killed since then. The military has launched security campaigns in the area, arrested suspects and demolished houses that belong to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.
