At least 23 Egyptian soldiers were killed when two suicide car bombs tore through military checkpoints in North Sinai province today, security sources said, in one of the bloodiest coordinated assaults on security forces in years.
Islamic State militants are waging an insurgency in the rugged, thinly populated Sinai Peninsula. They have killed hundreds of soldiers and police since 2013, when the military ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi after mass protests against his rule.
The two cars blew up as they passed through two checkpoints outside of a military compound just south of Rafah, on the border with the Gaza Strip, the security sources said. No group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The security sources said another 26 soldiers were injured in today's attacks. The military put the casualties lower, saying the attacks had killed and injured a total of 26 soldiers, without providing a breakdown of the figure.
The attack is the most severe in Sinai since at least July 2015, when Islamic State militants assaulted simultaneously a slew of checkpoints and military sites around North Sinai. At least 17 soldiers were killed, according to an official tally.
The bombings present a challenge for general-turned-president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who describes Islamist militancy as an existential threat and himself as a bulwark against extremism in a region beset by violence and war.
The bloody assault comes as militant attacks have increasingly shifted beyond the Sinai deep into Egypt's heartland, often targeting minority Coptic Christians.
Security sources described today's attack as a coordinated strike, with car bombs blowing apart checkpoints as gunmen in four-wheel drive vehicles shot down soldiers running for cover.
Militants in armoured vehicles meanwhile fired rocket propelled grenades at a military site just beyond the checkpoint, the sources said.
The military carried out a counter-attack almost immediately after, deploying fighter jets to kill over 40 militants suspected of involvement and destroying six of their vehicles, according to a video released by the military showing aerial footage of air strikes.
The military posted photos of five dead militants in blood-soaked fatigues lying in the sand. It did not name their affiliation.
"Law enforcement forces in North Sinai succeeded in thwarting a terrorist attack on some checkpoints south of Rafah," a military statement said.
The bloody assault comes as militant attacks have increasingly shifted beyond the Sinai deep into Egypt's heartland, often targeting minority Coptic Christians.
Responding to the Sinai attack, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail stressed the need for countries to unite against those who support terrorism and to "dry up their sources of funding," an allusion to Qatar.
Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain broke diplomatic relations with Qatar last month and are now boycotting the Gulf Arab state, which they accuse of supporting terrorism and allying with regional foe Iran. Qatar denies this.