Egyptian Officer Killed By Militants Affiliated With ISIS In Unrest-Plagued Sinai

The officer was killed in the northern part of the province of Sinai, where Egyptian forces are waging a significant offensive against a terrorist organization with ties to the Islamic State.

According to military sources, an Egyptian army officer was killed on Friday in a raid by militants associated with the Islamic State in the northern part of the province of Sinai.

According to military medical sources and reported by Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the officer killed was Muhammad Yasser Hotsh of the 112th Parachute Forces Command.

According to the sources, the attack occurred close to Bir al-Abd, where Egyptian forces are waging a significant operation against the IS-affiliated Wilayat Sinai group.

They added that several victims of the attack were taken to hospitals with injuries, but they did not say exactly who or how many people were hurt.

Long-running insurgency by militants in the Sinai Peninsula got worse after current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took office in a military coup in 2013.

The militants appear to have grown more brash recently, besieging critical infrastructure east of the Suez Canal in August despite Egyptian efforts to crush them. Previously, IS-affiliated militants attempted to move into areas near the Suez Canal but were repulsed by state security.