Militants rob bank, attack church in Egypt’s Sinai; 7 dead

El-Arish, Oct 16: In a brazen attack, about a dozen Islamic militants robbed a local bank and traded fire with security forces guarding an unused church in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Monday, killing seven people, including three civilians, officials said.

The attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades and traded gunfire with the guards outside the Church of Saint George in the center of el-Arish, security and military officials said.

Services at the church were suspended months ago, following a wave of attacks on Christians in Sinai.

The militants then robbed a bank before fleeing in a pickup and a motorcycle. “They looted the entire bank and left explosive devices inside,” a senior security official said.

The clashes killed three civilians, including a child, three guards and one soldier and wounded another 15 people, including women and children, the officials said.

Panic spread in the city of Sinai, which has been under a state of emergency since a series of deadly ISIS attacks in 2014.

Security forces cordoned off the city center and evacuated residents living in the bank building. Pictures posted on social media by locals showed school girls fleeing a school located in the vicinity of the bank and the church.

The fighting came less than 24 hours after the Islamic State affiliate in Sinai killed nine soldiers in series of attacks targeting checkpoints across the nearby town of Sheikh Zweid.

ISIS claimed responsibility in a statement carried by the extremists’

The army said 24 attackers were killed. On Thursday, six other policemen were also killed in an attack by the militants in el-Arish. — AP