Violence escalates in Sinai
Terrorist groups in North Sinai continue to launch attacks against government forces while Egypt's wide-scale anti-terror operation drags on.
A truck transporting civilians was hit by a shell in the Tofaha area of Egypt’s North Sinai Peninsula Oct. 12, killing at least nine family members and wounding six, according to the Associated Press.
The deadliest terrorist attack in Egypt targeted the same town, Bir al-Abd, on Nov. 25, 2017. Islamic State militants stormed into Al-Rawda Mosque, killing 305 people and wounding 128 others.
No party claimed responsibility for the Oct. 12 attack on the family, which was returning home from its private olive grove, according to a security source who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. Over the phone, the source also noted that six members of the security forces were injured in the blast from an explosive device planted in an armored vehicle in Bir al-Abd in a separate incident the same day. No further details were given.
No security or governmental statements were issued about the incident, but North Sinai Governor Mohammad Abdel Fadil Shusha paid his respects to the family of the victims the following day. He also visited the wounded in the Bir al-Abd hospital and promised financial compensation, reported the government’s Al-Ahram newspaper Oct. 13.
