Gun battle in Sinai: Egyptian police exchange fire with mystery attackers

Published June 3rd, 2013 - 09:32 GMT
Al Bawaba
Al Bawaba

Unidentified gunmen shot at police guarding the Al-Reesa security checkpoint in North Sinai's Al-Arish on Saturday.

It was the 39th time the checkpoint has been targeted by militants since the eruption of the January 25 Revolution, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

The police returned fire at the attackers. There were no reported injuries or arrests.

Al-Reesa, which houses police and military officers, is located at the eastern entrance to Al-Arish that leads to the Rafah border with the Gaza Strip.

Egypt's restless Sinai Peninsula has witnessed a number of recent attacks on security forces by unidentified militants.

On 3 November, three policemen were killed and another injured in an attack by unidentified assailants in Al-Arish. Three days later, a police inspector was severely injured after being shot by unidentified gunmen.

Some of these attacks were thought to be in response to earlier clashes between Egyptian security forces and Sinai-based militants.

The deadliest attack happened last August when 16 Egyptian border guards were killed and seven injured by unknown assailants near Egypt's border with Israel.

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