Four Egyptian soldiers killed in Sinai suicide blast

Four Egyptian soldiers were killed and five injured in a suicide attack on a military checkpoint in the Sinai peninsula on Thursday, security officials said.

Egyptian officials told Ma'an that a man approached the military checkpoint of al-Raysa, west of el-Arish, and detonated explosives hidden in the car as security officers were searching the vehicle.

Four Egyptian officers were killed and five others injured in the attack.

The wounded were evacuated to el-Arish military hospital.

Egyptian armed forces launched large scale military action against militants in Sinai earlier in September, in what officials described as the largest mobilization of force in the area since the 1973 war with Israel.

The Sinai offensive comes as part of a massive crackdown by the army-installed authorities on Islamists, which has seen hundreds killed and more than 2,000 arrested nationwide.