3 CSF troops killed, 8 wounded in Sheikh Zuwayed

A convoy of police vehicles was ambushed in the Sinai Peninsula’s northeastern town of Sheikh Zuwayed on Tuesday, resulting in the death of at least three security personnel and the injury of several others.

Unidentified assailants fired a rocket-propelled grenade at one of the vehicles in the convoy, according to the Interior Ministry’s official webpage.

The state-owned Al-Akhbar news portal reported three dead and 12 injured Central Security Forces personnel.

The ministry “mourns with deep sorrow the loss of its police martyrs,” the statement read, adding that it “confirms its intention to move forward in confronting elements of evil and terrorism, regardless of the costs and sacrifices, for the sake of the nation’s security and stability.”

On Monday, the privately owned Al-Shorouk newspaper reported another conscript had been shot dead by a sniper just west of Sheikh Zuwayed.

A growing number of security personnel, members of militant groups and civilians have been caught up in ongoing violence in North Sinai, with estimates suggesting as many as 976 Egyptians were either killed or injured in 2015 alone, according to figures compiled by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI).

According to ANHRI’s report, One Step Back, Two Steps Further Back: The Democratic Path in Egypt 2015, “Egypt is fighting terrorism by eroding freedom of the press, wasting justice and the rule of law.”

ANHRI’s statement added, “Egypt's government doesn’t eradicate the roots of terrorism, rather it increases the number of angry people for those who practice terrorism to recruit.”