SIX POLICEMEN KILLED IN EGYPT'S SINAI

Army soldiers stand guard around the area where rocket-propelled grenades hit a bus in El-Arish city, North Sinai, July 15, 2013 (File: Reuters)

Sinai, 21 Dhulqo’dah 1435/16 September 2014 (MINA) – Six policemen were killed on Tuesday when an explosion struck an armoured vehicle in North Sinai, the Egypt interior ministry said.

An improvised explosive device (IED) planted on the Rafah – Arish road caused the blast as the vehicle passed by, Egypt’s Ahram quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

A police officer and five conscripts were killed, while two others were injured.

The Police and military has been in operation against militant in North Sinai recent years, which strengthened following Mohamed Morsi’s ouster by military chief July 2012.

Earlier in September, 11 security personnel were killed and four others injured, also in an IED attack, in Sheikh Zuweid city.

Meanwhile, the army has targeted militant hideouts with helicopters and ground troops, killing dozens in recent months.

Military spokesman Brigadier-General Mohamed Samir said on Monday that army forces had killed 10 of them and arrested 17 others between 13 and 14 September in ambushes on their hideouts.

The Sinai Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about 60,000 km2 (23,000 sq mi) in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, serving as a land bridge between two continents.

The bulk of the peninsula is divided administratively into two of Egypt’s 27 governorates (with three more straddling the Suez Canal area), and has a population of approximately 1,400,000 people. In addition to its formal name, Egyptians also refer to it as”the Land of Turquoise”. The ancient Egyptians called it Mafkat, or “land of the green minerals”(T/R04/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)