Egypt at war with Islamists in Sinai

Smoke rising from the Egyptian side of border with southern Israel

Egyptian military spokesman Brig-Gen Mohammed Samir says more than 70 terrorists fired mortar rounds and detonated a car bomb in attacks on five checkpoints in the Sheikh Zuweid area of North Sinai province on Wednesday morning.

Ten soldiers were killed or wounded along with 39 assailants, he added. Security and army officials told the Associated Press that at least 50 troops had been killed and 55 wounded, and that several had also been taken captive.

Sources meanwhile told the Reuters news agency that at least 36 soldiers, policemen and civilians had been killed along with 38 militants.

There has been a wave of attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. North Sinai has been under a state of emergency and a curfew since October, when an attack on a checkpoint in El-Arish left dozens of soldiers dead.

Police and army patrols have been increased and additional checkpoints have been set up. In addition, a buffer zone along the border with Gaza has been created by demolishing houses and destroying underground tunnels the military says have been used to smuggle weapons from the Palestinian enclave.

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