Fifteen Egyptian Troops Killed Or Wounded In North Sinai

Egyptian policemen stand guard at a checkpoint on a road leading to the North Sinai provincial capital of El-Arish in July 2018.

Fifteen soldiers were killed or wounded in an exchange of fire with Islamist militants during an attack on a checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian army said in a statement.

Seven militants were also killed in the ambush on Saturday morning, the army said, without providing more details on total fatalities. Most of the attacks in the lawless north of the peninsula, which borders Israel and the Palestinian Gaza enclave, have been conducted by a local branch of Islamic State.

The extremists have killed hundreds of soldiers and police officers in Sinai, as well as Christian and Muslim worshipers across Egypt, in recent years.

The military says it has killed hundreds of Islamic State militants since it launched an extensive campaign in Sinai a year ago.