News / Egypt

Militants kill 8 civilians, 2 soldiers in Egypt's Sinai

Friday, 10 November 2017 2:58 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 10 November 2017 3:00 PM ]

The file photo shows Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula.

Eight civilians and two soldiers have been killed in an ambush by militants affiliated with the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

Security officials said militants from the Velayat Sinai terrorist group, previously known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, ambushed a convoy of trucks transporting cement from an army factory in central Sinai late Thursday.

The attack was carried out near the town of Nakhl, the officials said on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The assailants also stole weapons and burned seven trucks.

The Sinai Peninsula has been under a state of emergency since October 2014, after a deadly terrorist attack left 33 Egyptian soldiers dead.

Over the past few years, militants have been carrying out anti-government activities and fatal attacks, taking advantage of the turmoil in Egypt that erupted after the country's first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted in a military coup in July 2013.

Velayat Sinai has claimed responsibility for most of the assaults. The group later expanded the assaults to target members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian community as well as foreigners visiting the country. That has prompted the government to impose the state of emergency and widen a controversial crackdown, which critics say has mostly targeted dissidents.

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