Egypt declares emergency in northern Sinai after worst attack in decades

A coordinated assault on an army checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula killed 30 Egyptian troops on Friday, making it the deadliest single attack in decades on the military, which has been struggling to stem a wave of violence by Islamic extremists since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Officials described it as “well-planned” attack that began with a car bomb which may have been set off by a suicide attacker. Other militants then fired rocket-propelled grenades, striking a tank carrying ammunition and igniting a secondary explosion. Roadside bombs intended to target rescuers struck two army vehicles, seriously wounding a senior officer. State-run TV said clashes between troops and militants followed the bombing, without providing further details. The car bomb exploded at the check point at around 3:30 p.m. Cairo time, and took place some 15 kilometres from the northern Sinai city of el-Arish, in an area called Karm el-Qawadees. Egypt’s National Defense Council declared a three-month state of emergency in areas near borders with Israel and the Gaza Strip in the northern part of Sinai Peninsula and ordered a three-hour curfew starting Saturday.

Middle East