Update: Sources say 5 soldiers, 1 civilian killed in militant attacks in North Sinai

A civilian injured in one of a pair of attacks over the weekend in North Sinai died from injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near the city of Bir al-Abd on Sunday, according to a medical source.

Monday’s death brings the total casualty count in the pair of attacks to nine dead and 12 injured, according to official statements and sources who spoke to Mada Masr. Five security forces officers and three militants were killed in an exchange of fire resulting from a Saturday dawn raid on a military checkpoint south of Sheikh Zuwayed, while eight officers were wounded. The following day, an IED blast left five civilians in critical condition, one of whom died later on Monday. 

Following the Saturday attack, authorities cut access to landlines and the internet in several cities in the governorate, while fighter jets scanned the sky overhead. 

The five Egyptian security forces were killed by armed militants in a dawn attack on Saturday at an Armed Forces checkpoint known as Zelzal 13 south of Sheikh Zuwayed and near a camp belonging to the UN peacekeeping forces. The brazen attack is the first of its kind Mada Masr has recorded in the Sheikh Zuwayed district since a similar coordinated attack on a nearby checkpoint, Zelzal 15, in February 2020.

A security source told Mada Masr that three militants approached the military checkpoint, taking advantage of limited visibility during a period of heavy fog and under the cover of heavy fire from other militants. Three militants were killed, the source said, along with five officers stationed at the checkpoint, while a further eight officers were injured.

A local newspaper in the governorate reported on Sunday on the funerals of five officers who were killed in North Sinai: Sergeant Mohamed Ragab from Behiera, a conscipt named Sherif Eid Ahmed from Assiut and three conscripts from Minya: Bishoy Milad Nabil, Ihab Milad Zaky, and Ishak Yonan Fayek.

On Sunday, the Armed Forces spokesperson issued a press release stating that eight of its personnel were killed and injured, adding that 89 militants were killed by security forces in North Sinai, without specifying when the operations took place or mentioning the attack. Other security sources told the Associated Press that Armed Forces casualties stood at five deaths and six injuries.

Militants from the Islamic State-affiliated Province of Sinai claimed responsibility on Monday for the attack, claiming to have killed six soldiers and to have destroyed an M60 tank.

A separate attack on Sunday saw five civilians critically injured in an IED blast to the south of the city of Bir al-Abd.

Selmy Soliman Saliteyn, whose leg was amputated by medics after the explosion, died of complications stemming from his injuries on Monday, a medical source at Bir al-Abd Hospital told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity, adding that the condition of the other four who were injured has stabilized.

The explosive device, which was planted inside a power adaptor unit, exploded when technicians opened the unit to fix it, injuring them and a driver passing by at the time, eyewitnesses told Mada Masr. The explosion impacted a civilian vehicle and a maintenance vehicle belonging to the state electricity company. 

Though militant activity in North Sinai has lulled comparatively over the past year, a series of explosive devices left behind by Province of Sinai militants withdrawing from a short-lived occupation of villages in the Green Triangle, including Qatiya, Iqtiya, Ganayen and Merih, caused the death of at least 15 civilians and the injury of another 12 in the last quarter of 2020.

In February, 2020, Province of Sinai militants targeted the Zelzal series of checkpoints south of Sheikh Zewaid, which are located near areas that are known for heavy presence and activity for the militants. The attacks at that time killed seven soldiers and injured another seven.

The Armed Forces statement on Sunday also said that 73 rifles were seized, 404 explosive devices detonated, 52 militant vehicles destroyed, and 13 tunnels used to sneak into North Sinai dismantled.