Five Egyptian officers die in day-long battles with Sinai Islamists
Five Egyptian officers were killed Friday night defending government house in El Arish at the end of a day of battles between Egyptian forces and Salafist gunmen. The gunmen continued to shoot up military positions and vehicles in various parts of the northern Sinai town. From early morning, armed Salafists staged attacks on Egyptian security forces in Sinai, causing a number of casualties.
They fired rocket-propelled grenades at army checkpoints guarding El Arish airport near the Gaza Strip and Israeli border. Another attack targeted a police station in Rafah south of Gaza, close to the local headquarters of Egyptian military intelligence. DEBKAfile: The Egyptian army has imposed a blackout on the attacks. They are believed to have been more extensive than reported and entailed substantial casualties.