Armed Forces conducts airstrikes in retaliation for Friday’s attack on North Sinai checkpoint

Egyptian military aircraft bombed what are believed to be the hideouts of armed militant groups based in the North Sinai Governorate on Saturday, one day after 12 soldiers were killed and six others were injured in an attack on a security checkpoint.

Seven vehicles were destroyed in the three-hour airstrike, as were locations thought to be used to assemble ammunitions and weapons, said Armed Forces spokesperson Brigadier General Mohamed Samir in a statement released on Saturday. There has not been a reported casualty count, but several militants and residents the Armed Forces believes to be collaborating with them were killed, according to Samir.

On Friday, at least 12 troops were killed and six others were wounded during an armed assault on a security checkpoint. In the ensuing firefight, security forces killed 15 of the attackers. Province of Sinai later claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the BBC.

Citing medical and security sources, Reuters reported the incident took place 40 kilometers from the town of Bir al-Abd and was the first major attack in central Sinai, an area that has yet to be the site of armed conflict.

Since the military-backed ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, armed groups based in Sinai have increased attacks targeting police and military personnel, with the Islamic State affiliate, formerly known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdes, being one of the principal parties involved.

In a reported published in November 2015 and titled “Egypt’s rising security threat,” the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) wrote that terrorist activities had increased in number and geographical scope, though most concentrated in North Sinai.

“Over the past year, North Sinai has seen a sustained insurgency, marked by ever-more-spectacular operations and a growing base of militants. Violence occurs on a nearly daily basis, and the population of North Sinai has been increasingly implicated in an entrenched battle between security forces and militants”, the report asserted.

According to a TIMEP security brief released in August, there were 228 attacks in the second quarter of 2016, the majority of which were carried out in North Sinai.