Attacks kill 3 troops in Egypt’s Sinai

By Khaled al-Geyoushi

CAIRO

Three military officers were killed in two separate attacks in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, according to a local security source.

A military vehicle struck a landmine in central Sinai, killing one and injuring three others, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.

Two officers were also killed and five soldiers injured in a militant attack in the North Sinai city of Sheikh Zuweid, the source said.

The Egyptian military has yet to comment.

Sinai has remained the epicenter of a deadly militant insurgency since mid-2013, when Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt’s first freely-elected president and a Muslim Brotherhood leader -- was ousted in a military coup.

Since then, hundreds of Egyptian security personnel have been killed in militant attacks across the volatile peninsula.

Egyptian security forces, meanwhile, continue to wage a fierce campaign -- involving elements of both the police and army -- against what they describe as Sinai-based "terrorist groups".