At least eleven security personnel were killed and over 40 others, mostly civillians, injured in two separate attacks when militants ambushed an Army vehicle with a roadside bomb and a suicide car bombing targeted a police station in Egypt's volatile North Sinai region on Sunday.
A roadside blast targeted an armoured vehicle in Sheikh Zawayed area that is a stronghold of Ansar Beit al-Maqdis militant group, killing six Army personnel, including an officer, and injuring two others.
Hours after the attack on the Army vehicle, a suicide car bombing targeted a police station in North Sinai's provincial capital of Al-Arish. The security forces opened fire on the car, which lead to its explosion, killing five policemen and injuring 40 others, including conscripts and civillians.
The facade of the police station was damaged, police said, adding that several nearby buildings also suffered damages. Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis which changed its name to Sinai Province after it pledged allegiance to Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the explosion.
Sinai region has witnessed many violent attacks by militants since the January 2011 revolution that toppled ex-president Hosni Mubarak.The attacks targeting police and military increased after the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Over 500 security personnel have been reported killed since then.The military has launched frequent security campaigns in the area, arrested suspects and demolished houses that belong to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.