Update: Brotherhood condemns Sinai soldier deaths, but remains skeptical

Twenty-four Central Security conscripts were shot dead in the North Sinai city of Arish on Monday pursuant to an attack by armed gunmen at a checkpoint, a Ministry of Interior statement reported. 

The conscripts were heading back to their base in Rafah after a holiday when they were attacked at the Abou Tawila checkpoint, the statement said. Their corpses were immediately transferred to the military hospital in Arish. 

Three suspects allegedly carrying automatic weapons equipped with telescopic scopes and hash were arrested on Monday in relation to the incident, security sources reported.

Sinai has witnessed ongoing attacks on police stations and military checkpoints by unknown militants for the last three years. Such incidents have intensified since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi by the military on July 3, but Monday's attack caused the highest number of casualties of any such assault since 2011. 

Muslim Brotherhood spokesperson Ahmed Aref said on Monday that the killing of soldiers in Sinai was a catastrophe, and might have been orchestrated as a distraction from the targeting and killing of 36 pro-Morsi detainees last night by police forces.

The military has been conducting operations in Sinai, but details of the outcome of these operations remain unclear. Four militants were killed on August 9 near the Israeli border in Sinai under the watch of hovering Israeli drones; however, it is uncertain whether they were killed by Israeli or Egyptian forces. 

The people of Sinai have long accused the central government of political and economic marginalization, which is usually described as a context for increasing militancy and lawlessness in the peninsula. 

Violence has intensified across the country since August 14, following the government's decision to disperse two major sit-ins organized by Morsi supporters to demand his reinstatement. By the following Sunday, more than 1,000 people had been killed in the resulting conflict.