Attacks in Egypt’s Sinai kill at least 28 security personnel

Two attacks in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killed at least 28 security personnel on Friday, security sources said, in some of the worst anti-state violence since Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown last year.

More than 25 people died in the first attack in the al-Kharouba area northwest of al-Arish, near the Gaza Strip, the sources said. Medical sources expected the toll to increase because some of the wounded were in a critical condition.

The car bomb attack targeted two armored vehicles stopped at a checkpoint near an army installation, the sources said. They said the large explosion and the high death toll were likely due to the armored vehicles being loaded with ammunition and heavy weapons.

Security officials gave conflicting accounts on the first attack, with one Sinai-based official saying the attack was by rocket-propelled grenade. More than 25 people were wounded.

Hours later, gunmen opened fire on a checkpoint in al-Arish, killing three members of the security forces, officials said.

The wounded and dead were transported by military helicopters to Cairo, state news agency MENA reported.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack. Similar previous operations have been claimed by Egypt's most active militant group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis.

Though the vast peninsula has long been a security headache for Egypt and its neighbors, the removal of President Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood brought the region new violence that has morphed into an Islamist insurgency

Security forces have been squaring off against militants who have killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen since the army toppled Morsi in July 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

Most attacks have been in Sinai, though militant groups have claimed responsibility for deadly bomb attacks over the past year on state installations in the Nile Delta and in Cairo.

The Brotherhood says it is peaceful and denies government claims it is linked to the Sinai-based Islamist militants.

'Combing operation'

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi convened the National Defence Council for an emergency meeting on Friday evening in response to what his office called "a terrorist attack."

Shortly after the second attack, Sinai residents reported phone lines and internet services had been cut.

Security sources said the communications shutdown coincided with the beginning of a military operation east of al-Arish in response to the attacks. Apache helicopters bombed areas south of the towns of Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah, near the Gaza Strip, which sources said were believed to be "militant hideouts."

MENA said armed forces were "conducting a large scale combing operation" involving military helicopters and special forces troops, but did not provide further details.

This is not the first time in the 16 months since Morsi's over throw when news of a deadly attack against security forces in the Sinai has been swiftly followed by official announcements about a fresh assault on militants.

Washington provides Cairo with military aid around $1.3 billion annually. A partial suspension of aid following Morsi's ouster was relaxed in April, when the US said it would deliver 10 Apache helicopters, which have not yet arrived in Egypt.

The Pentagon said at the time that aid would help Egypt's counter-terrorism operations in the Sinai.

Six soldiers were killed on Sunday by a roadside bomb southwest of al-Arish.

Security officials have expressed concern that Islamic State militants who control parts of Iraq and Syria have forged ties with radical Islamist groups in Egypt.

(Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy and Mostafa Hashem; Writing by Maggie Fick; Editing by Tom Heneghan)