In another escalation in North Sinai, gunmen have attacked seven security checkpoints, wounding a civilian and a conscript, witnesses said.
One of the attacks took place at the Rayssa checkpoint on the entrance of Arish, North Sinai's main city. A military armored vehicle also chased a group of gunmen near al-Hassna town, in mid-Sinai, as they tried to attack a truck carrying cement. Heavy gunfire also erupted between militants and Egyptian soldiers in the Mahager checkpoint in Arish.
Witnesses said the Egyptian army flew helicopters over the city.
The on-going attacks follow a major assault by militants on a checkpoint in the border town of Rafah, killing 16 soldiers and wounding seven others.
Witnesses in North Sinai said that the attackers are most probably outsiders. They cited their dialect as evidence.
