Suicide attack thwarted in North Sinai, says Egyptian ministry

Attacker with explosive belt shot dead at security checkpoint, say officials

Mourners and soldiers accompany the coffin containing the body of Egyptian officer Soleman Ali Soleman, who was killed in an armed attack in Sinai claimed by ISIS on May 7. Reuters

An attempted suicide attack was thwarted when an assailant was shot dead at a security checkpoint in North Sinai, Egypt’s Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

The ministry said that a “terrorist element” attempted to carry out a suicide attack at a security checkpoint in Al Toloul area in North Sinai.

Troops at the checkpoint exchanged fire with the militant and killed him, the ministry said.

An explosive belt, two hand grenades, a machinegun and bullets were seized, it said.

Last week, the military said five soldiers were killed fighting militants in the Sinai Peninsula, less than a week after 11 soldiers were killed in the region by extremists in an attack claimed by a local ISIS affiliate.

Attacks in Sinai, the capital Cairo, the Nile Delta and the western desert surged following the 2013 overthrow of president Mohammed Morsi of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, amid mass street protests against his divisive, one-year rule.

A major government offensive launched in 2018 slowed the attacks. But militants have continued to target isolated and small police and army outposts and kidnapped civilians or tribesmen who openly support the government.