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| Bomb attack in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula is deadliest attack on its army in years | Bomb attack in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula is deadliest attack on its army in years |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| CAIRO — More than two dozen Egyptian soldiers were killed in a car bomb attack at a military checkpoint in the restive Sinai Peninsula on Friday, marking one of the deadliest insurgent attacks in the country in years, even as authorities have vowed to crack down on militancy here. | CAIRO — More than two dozen Egyptian soldiers were killed in a car bomb attack at a military checkpoint in the restive Sinai Peninsula on Friday, marking one of the deadliest insurgent attacks in the country in years, even as authorities have vowed to crack down on militancy here. |
| A vehicle packed with explosives detonated at the checkpoint near a village about 200 miles east of Cairo on Friday afternoon, destroying an armored vehicle and scattering body parts onto the road, witnesses said. | A vehicle packed with explosives detonated at the checkpoint near a village about 200 miles east of Cairo on Friday afternoon, destroying an armored vehicle and scattering body parts onto the road, witnesses said. |
| At least 25 soldiers were killed and 26 others wounded in the blast outside Kharuba village in northern Sinai, according to Egyptian state television. The death toll makes it the bloodiest day for army personnel here in decades, underscoring the continued ability of Egyptian insurgents to strike at security forces. | |
| The military’s response to Friday’s bombing was swift, residents said. Almost immediately, security forces closed major roads in north Sinai and established perimeters around towns and cities, they said. | The military’s response to Friday’s bombing was swift, residents said. Almost immediately, security forces closed major roads in north Sinai and established perimeters around towns and cities, they said. |
| Witnesses also reported seeing army helicopters ferrying the wounded from the checkpoint near the coastal village of al-Kharuba and outside the volatile north Sinai city of Sheikh Zuwaid. Other residents said they saw fighter jets flying overhead. | Witnesses also reported seeing army helicopters ferrying the wounded from the checkpoint near the coastal village of al-Kharuba and outside the volatile north Sinai city of Sheikh Zuwaid. Other residents said they saw fighter jets flying overhead. |
| Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed in militant attacks since the army staged a coup against elected president and former Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. | |
| Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi called an urgent meeting of the National Defense Council, a consortium of top military, intelligence and cabinet officials, to discuss the attack, Egypt’s official news agency reported. | Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi called an urgent meeting of the National Defense Council, a consortium of top military, intelligence and cabinet officials, to discuss the attack, Egypt’s official news agency reported. |
| Sissi, a former defense minister and career military intelligence officer, will likely come under considerable domestic pressure to respond forcefully to the attack. Since ousting Morsi, Sissi has portrayed himself as a strongman battling Egypt’s own “war on terror.” But his government has also rounded up thousands of dissidents and political activists without links to terrorism. | Sissi, a former defense minister and career military intelligence officer, will likely come under considerable domestic pressure to respond forcefully to the attack. Since ousting Morsi, Sissi has portrayed himself as a strongman battling Egypt’s own “war on terror.” But his government has also rounded up thousands of dissidents and political activists without links to terrorism. |
| For years, the army has waged a security campaign against militant groups in north Sinai in a bid to flush out the armed jihadists that flourished there since the 2011 uprising. But residents say the army has instead presided over a repressive campaign that has killed civilians, failing to temper the jihadists’ reach. | |
| Immediately following the 2011 revolt, Sinai-based jihadist groups used the area to launch cross-border attacks against Israel. The Sinai, whose population of nomadic Bedouin tribes views the central government in Cairo with suspicion, shares a border with both Israel and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, and has long been a conduit for weapons, drugs and smuggling networks. | Immediately following the 2011 revolt, Sinai-based jihadist groups used the area to launch cross-border attacks against Israel. The Sinai, whose population of nomadic Bedouin tribes views the central government in Cairo with suspicion, shares a border with both Israel and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, and has long been a conduit for weapons, drugs and smuggling networks. |
| But the government crackdown on Islamists and the brutal dispersal of a pro-Morsi protest camp in Cairo in August 2012 – which killed roughly 1,000 protesters – spurred the jihadists to intensify their attacks on Egyptian security personnel. | But the government crackdown on Islamists and the brutal dispersal of a pro-Morsi protest camp in Cairo in August 2012 – which killed roughly 1,000 protesters – spurred the jihadists to intensify their attacks on Egyptian security personnel. |
| The most formidable of the groups, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes, expanded its attacks from the Sinai Peninsula to security installations on the Egyptian mainland and in the capital, Cairo. | The most formidable of the groups, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes, expanded its attacks from the Sinai Peninsula to security installations on the Egyptian mainland and in the capital, Cairo. |
| Relatives of both leaders and fighters for Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes say it is made up mostly of Bedouin residents from north Sinai. While the group has praised the Islamic State in its posts on jihadist forums, north Sinai residents say there is little evidence that there are foreign fighters operating there. | Relatives of both leaders and fighters for Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes say it is made up mostly of Bedouin residents from north Sinai. While the group has praised the Islamic State in its posts on jihadist forums, north Sinai residents say there is little evidence that there are foreign fighters operating there. |
| The U.S. State Department released a statement Friday denouncing the attack. | |
| “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack that targeted a military checkpoint in the Sinai near Arish, and killed tens of Egyptian soldiers and injured dozens,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “The United States continues to support the Egyptian government’s efforts to counter the threat of terrorism in Egypt as part of our commitment to the strategic partnership between our two countries.” | |
| Egypt’s government has called on the United States to resume the $1.5 billion in military aid that was partially suspended following Morsi’s ouster, which it claims it needs to battle the militants in Sinai. | Egypt’s government has called on the United States to resume the $1.5 billion in military aid that was partially suspended following Morsi’s ouster, which it claims it needs to battle the militants in Sinai. |
| U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has sought to reassure Sissi that the United States would soon approve the delivery of Apache helicopters that had been halted as a result of the increasingly repressive political climate in Egypt. | U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has sought to reassure Sissi that the United States would soon approve the delivery of Apache helicopters that had been halted as a result of the increasingly repressive political climate in Egypt. |
| Muhamed Sabry contributed from Arish. Heba Habib contributed from Cairo. |