Gunmen open fire on central Sinai checkpoint

A military conscript was injured when unidentified gunmen fired on a security checkpoint in central Sinai, the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Monday.

The assailants allegedly opened fire on the Sadr al-Hitan checkpoint, shooting 21-year-old Ahmed Abdel-Latif in the leg, security sources told MENA. The soldier was then transferred to the hospital for treatment.

Earlier on Monday, military sources said they carried out a raid on suspected militant hideouts in northern Sinai, killing at least 20, the Associated Press (AP) reported citing an unnamed official.

Sixteen suspects were arrested in Monday’s mission, which by some accounts is one of the biggest scale raids in the military’s ongoing operations in Sinai, said AP. On Friday, 13 people were killed in another raid.

On January 26, three soldiers were killed by unknown masked assailants who targeted a bus carrying Armed Forces personnel in Sinai.

The day before, Ansar Beit al-Maqdes, a Sinai-based militant group, had claimed responsibility for shooting down a military helicopter, killing five soldiers.

In its statement, the group said they used a surface-to-air missile (SAM) to bring down the helicopter.

According to a statement by the Armed Forces’ spokesperson, the helicopter was downed during a military operation targeting Jihadi elements in North Sinai.