Explosion kills 4 soldiers in insurgency-infested Sinai

Four Egyptian soldiers were killed in an explosion that hit their armored vehicle on Saturday in the northern Sinai peninsula, where the government is battling a Daesh-led insurgency, security sources said.
The incident occurred about 20 km south of the Mediterranean town of Al-Arish.
An insurgency in Egypt’s rugged Sinai region has gained pace since the army toppled President Mohammed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, following mass protests against his rule in mid-2013.
The revolt, mounted by Daesh’s Egyptian branch, has killed hundreds of soldiers and police. Militants have also started to attack Western targets within the country.
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the former military chief who led Mursi’s overthrow, describes militancy as an existential threat to Egypt, an ally of the US.
On Thursday, 10 soldiers were killed in the Sinai peninsula when their vehicles were hit by two improvised bombs during an operation in which 15 suspected militants were also killed, the army said. Two policemen were killed near Al-Arish in a separate incident, the Interior Ministry said.
Separately, police used tear gas to disperse an angry mob of Muslims approaching Christian homes in southern Egypt.
The Friday clashes injured four policemen and seven of the Muslim villagers. Police have made eight arrests.
The trouble in the Moheidat district south of the ancient city of Luxor began when Muslim villagers suspected that a Christian teenager who allegedly converted to Islam was being held captive by her family as punishment. Her relatives deny the charge.
Similar incidents had in the past ignited deadly sectarian violence or caused long-term damage to relations between Muslims and Christians, who account for about 10 percent of Egypt’s 92 million people.
Egypt’s Christians complain of discrimination by authorities, especially in rural areas where the central government’s authority is weak and radicals are powerful.

Source: Arab News