News / Egypt

Gunmen ambush an ambulance, kill three in Egypt’s Sinai

Sunday, 06 March 2016 6:41 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 06 March 2016 6:39 PM ]

Emergency personnel and security forces stand next to ambulances in the Egyptian town of El-Arish, in the Sinai Peninsula, November 24, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

Gunmen have shot and killed a medic and two members of Egypt’s security forces who had been wounded in a bombing attack and were in an ambulance en route to a hospital in the country’s restive Sinai Peninsula.

According to a senior Egyptian security officer who was speaking on condition of anonymity, the incident occurred in the northern Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, located about 334 kilometers (207 miles) northeast of the capital, Cairo, on Sunday, when the ambulance was ambushed.

The two security forces had been injured in a blast that had targeted their armored vehicle earlier.

“When the ambulance left the site of the blast with the wounded security members, it came under attack from gunmen,” the officer said.

“Two wounded security personnel and a medic were killed in the ambush,” he added.

Mahmud Amer, the head of the North Sinai ambulance service, also confirmed the death of the medic in the attack but did not provide details.

No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for either acts of violence.

The Sinai Peninsula has been under a state of emergency since October 2014, following a deadly terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 33 soldiers.

Over the past years, militants have been carrying out anti-government activities and deadly attacks, taking advantage of the turmoil caused in Egypt after democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi was ousted by the military in July 2013.

Velayat Sinai terrorists have carried out most of the attacks, mainly targeting the army and police.

In November 2014, the group pledged allegiance to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which is mainly wreaking havoc in Iraq and Syria.

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