Cairo: In simultaneous attacks by suicide bombers and other militants with heavy weapons, 60 Egyptian soldiers were killed in the north of the Sinai Peninsula. Army spokesperson Brigadier General Mohamed Samir said, “More than 70 terrorist elements waged simultaneous attacks against five security checkpoints in North Sinai.”
The attacks follow the assassination of Egypt's general prosecutor Hisham Barakat in a car bomb attack after President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi pledged to step up a two year crackdown on militants. Egypt's north Sinai has witnessed many violent attacks by militants since the 2011 revolution that toppled ex-president Hosni Mubarak. The attacks targeting police and military increased after the removal of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by military following massive protests against his rule.
Army and police are currently chasing the attackers with ground and air forces and 22 militants have been killed so far.
