Egyptian navy vessel targeted by ISIL-affiliated militants off Sinai’s Mediterranean coast
CAIRO — An Egyptian navy vessel was targeted on Thursday by militants affiliated with ISIL, who claimed they destroyed it with a rocket while it was anchored off the Sinai Peninsula’s Mediterranean coast.
Egyptian military spokesman Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Samir said the vessel was set ablaze in an exchange of fire with “terrorists” on the shore and that there were no fatalities among its crew members. He did not say how much damage the vessel suffered and gave no details on the type of ship or the size of its crew.
However, security officials said an unspecified number of crew members suffered injuries from the fire and that several of them jumped overboard to escape the raging fire.
The Egyptian ISIL affiliate, which calls itself the Sinai Province of the Islamic State, said it destroyed the vessel with a rocket. Its claim of responsibility came in a statement posted on Twitter accounts known to be linked to the group.
The attack on the ship is the first of its kind by the ISIL affiliate in Egypt, representing a qualitative evolution in the military capabilities of the group, whose campaign of violence has been mostly restricted to the northern part of Sinai bordering Gaza and Israel.
Its claim of responsibility for Thursday’s attack on the vessel is the second in as many days for major operations, or attempted ones.
On Wednesday, the military said it foiled an attempted attack on a military post on a highway linking Cairo to the Red Sea coast.
The driver of a car that was carrying 500 kilograms of explosives refused to stop at a checkpoint, drawing fire from troops, the military said. It then swerved off the road and the driver was killed, it added.
A witness, fisherman Abu Ibrahim Mohammed from the neighbouring Gaza Strip, said the vessel targeted Thursday was a gunboat that was about a nautical mile off the coast when it caught fire. He did not hear the explosion but saw two smaller boats trying to put out the fire and that a third, larger one later arrived and towed the burned vessel away. Two speed boats were later seen combing the area as gunshots rang out, he said.
The vessel, according to the security officials, routinely patrols Egyptian territorial waters and has frequently been used to transport army and police personnel to mainland Egypt, the officials said. The sea route avoids the overland journey through Sinai, where Islamic militants target government forces.