Suicide bomb kills 5 in Arish

A suicide car bombing at the Reesa checkpoint in Arish, North Sinai, allegedly killed four soldiers and injured five others on Thursday.

The bombing reportedly occurred at 8 am Thursday morning, Mostafa Singer, the head of the independent Al-Shorouk newspaper’s Sinai bureau, told Mada Masr. The bodies of the alleged attacker, the victims and the injured were transported to the Arish Military Hospital, and the checkpoint would be closed until further notice, Singer said.

On his personal Facebook page, military spokesperson Ahmed Ali said that the Armed Forces were mourning the deceased, whose lives were claimed by “the hands of black terrorism.”

He offered his deepest condolences to the families of the martyrs, and wished the injured a rapid recovery.

The Reesa checkpoint is located on the Arish-Rafah International Road, and is guarded by both military soldiers and police forces.

The private Sada al-Balad news site quoted a military source as saying that special forces have been deployed in Sinai to locate and apprehend the assailants.

"The situation is tense in Sinai," Singer said. The number of attacks are mounting and claiming the lives of army personnel, police forces and even civilians, “which is causing more confusion,” he added.

"The army has access to all of Sinai, but its ability to capture terrorist elements is still very limited," Singer explained to Mada Masr.

He believes that the army is adopting the wrong strategy in its Sinai operations.

"The two key elements in capturing terrorists are information and the speed of movement, which are not characteristic of professional armies like Egypt's ... This is the same mistake the US Army made in Afghanistan," Singer asserted.