Egypt Sinai terrorist attack by ISIS kills 18 policeman in police convoy

In Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, an attack by ISIS killed 18 in a police convoy ambush on Monday, officials said.

Police and military members said that Islamic State militants used roadside bombs to attack four armored vehicles and a fifth vehicle carrying signal-jamming equipment, before gunmen opened fire on a police pick-up truck.

Of the 18 killed, two were police lieutenants. Seven others were injured in the incident, and included a police brigadier general.

The incident occurred when a vehicle stormed toward the police convoy about 19 miles west of el-Arish in northern Sinai, Aljazeera reported.

Police opened fire on the vehicle, causing it to explode and damage several vehicles traveling in the convoy in the process. What followed next was a hail of bullets as police exchanged gunfire with “terrorist elements” hiding near the road, the AP reported.

This latest attack is believed to be one of the deadliest to take place in two years, exceeded by an incident in July when 23 soldiers were killed in an IS militant attack near Rafah.

The militants, who had allegedly snuck into the densely populated capital from northern Sinai, were reportedly planning attacks on Cairo.

Al Jazeera’s Middle East analyst Yehia Ghanem said the Egyptian government had been using the intensified violence in the area over the past few years as a means of escalating repression in the country.

“The Egyptian regime has initiated violence in the Sinai – all over the country but specifically in Sinai. It’s a rule – violence begets violence,” he said.

Source: AP