Egypt extends emergency rule in Sinai Peninsula for three months

The attack follows a decision by the government to extend the state of emergency in the region.

Security forces cordoned off the area and the ambulances rushed to the spot to transfer the injured after the blast in Al-Arish city, security officials said. Health Ministry official Tarek Khater confirmed the officers were in stable condition.

The Islamic State said Thursday it was behind the armed assault outside a checkpoint in el-Mahdiya village in Rafah, a town on the border with the Gaza Strip.

Sunday’s attack was claimed by the “Province of Sinai“, an anti-government group active in northern Sinai said to be linked to the Daesh militant group.

The Egyptian prime minister says the extension of the state of emergency for a 3rd time was necessary because of the “dangerous security situation”.

Egyptian security forces have come under frequent attack in North Sinai since the military toppled Islamist president Mohammad Mursi in 2013.

Hundreds of Egyptian police and soldiers have been killed in attacks. It was extended for three months in January and in April.

Sissi has called the insurgency an existential threat to Egypt.

In early July, terrorist attacks on several North Sinai checkpoints killed 17 military personnel, while raids carried out in militant hideouts during the following days killed over 250 of them.

Officials in Egypt say a roadside bombing in the country’s restive Sinai Peninsula has wounded 18 police conscripts.