Five militants, two soldiers, killed in Egypt’s North Sinai

Sinai (Egypt) – Five militants and two soldiers were killed on Wednesday in clashes that followed a failed attack on a security checkpoint in Egypt’s strife-torn North Sinai province, a military spokesman said.

Troops were seeking some of the militants who fled the scene during the clashes, the spokesman said in a statement.

“One of the militants, wearing an explosive vest, attempted to raid one of the security checkpoints and due to the vigilance of the security forces the terrorist was killed while the rest of the militants were dealt with,” he said.

Security forces have been battling an Islamist insurgency for several years in North Sinai. Militants have killed hundreds of security personnel while Egyptian troops have killed hundreds of militants during operations in the border region.

Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed since and in recent months the attacks extended to Coptic Christians, who make up 10 percent of Egypt’s 90 million population.