Sinai attacks kill 50 troops

ISIS affiliate targets Egyptian army checkpoints

• Islamist militants Wednesday unleashed a wave of simultaneous attacks, including suicide car bombings, on Egyptian army checkpoints in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 50 soldiers.

The co-ordinated morning assaults came a day after Egypt’s president pledged to step up the battle against the Islamists and two days after the country’s state prosecutor was assassinated in Cairo. The attacks set off fierce fighting between the army and the militants that continued into Wednesday afternoon — the fiercest clashes in decades in the peninsula.

The scope and intensity of the attacks underscored the resilience and planning by the militants who have for years battled security forces in northern Sinai. Fighting has intensified over the past two years as the government has thrown more resources into the fight.

An Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) affiliate in Egypt claimed responsibility, saying its fighters targeted 15 army and police positions and staged three suicide bombings, two of which hit checkpoints, the other an officers’ club in nearby el-Arish.

Egypt’s military spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Samir, said clashes were still under way. His statement put the number of soldiers killed so far at 10, but the conflicting numbers could not immediately be reconciled.

Samir’s statement said 70 militants attacked five checkpoints in Sinai, but Egyptian troops killed 22 of them and destroyed three vehicles fitted with anti-aircraft guns.

Later Wednesday, Samir said on his Facebook page the coun- try’s armed forces targeted two militant gatherings in northern Sinai, completely destroying them.

Over the past two years, the area has seen a series of complex and successful attacks targeting Egyptian security forces, many of which have been claimed by an ISIL affiliate.

The attacks came just two days after the assassination of top prosecutor Hisham Barakat and one day after President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi vowed to step up a two-year crackdown on militants.

Last week, an ISIL spokesman called in an audio message on followers to launch massive attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is now entering its third week.

Militants in northern Sinai, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, have battled security forces for years but stepped up their attacks after the July 2013 military ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

Since then, Egypt has waged a crackdown that has led to thousands of arrests, mass convictions and death sentences. Morsi is among those condemned to die, but has a potentially lengthy appeal process ahead of him.

El-Sissi said the government was ready to brush aside criticisms and free the judiciary’s hand for a “battle” the country is prepared to wage.

Though the crackdown has been criticized by rights groups, activists and some Egyptians, most people support his battle against the insurgency in Sinai.

“The judiciary is restricted by laws, and swift justice is also restricted by laws. We will not wait for that,” the president said Tuesday. “Action will be taken within days “to enable us to execute the law, and bring justice as soon as possible.”

In a veiled reference to jailed members of the Muslim Brotherhood, he blamed the violence on those “issuing orders from behind bars,” and warned, “If there is a death sentence, it will be carried out.”