A policeman was killed and another two injured Wednesday morning when unknown assailants attacked a police checkpoint in North Sinai.
A security source told state-owned news agency MENA that the checkpoint was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. The resulting shrapnel killed a police conscript, Mahmoud Sabry Mohamed, 24, who was hit in his head, legs and other parts of his body.
The source added that Mostafa Mohamed Ahmed, 21, another conscript, was injured in his left leg and other parts of his body. Mostafa Mahmoud, another conscript, 23, was injured in his left arm.
Eyewitnesses said the attack, which took place in the Masoura region of the peninsula 5 km west of Rafah, was carried out by masked men driving an unlicensed car. The three victims were transported to Arish Public Hospital.
On Tuesday, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported that the Interior Ministry and the military dispatched reinforcements to North Sinai after receiving reports that some jihadi groups were reviving their activities in central Sinai.
Ahmed Gamal, the assistant minister for public security, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that elements from the Ezz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades were arrested in Sinai this week. He called on citizens to cooperate with the ministry and said it has a plan to secure the Arish-Rafah International Road.
