October 2016 Sinai attacks

October 2016 Sinai attacks
Part of the Sinai insurgency
Bir al-Abd is located in Egypt
Bir al-Abd
Bir al-Abd
Bir al-Abd (Egypt)
LocationEgypt Bir al-Abed, North Sinai, Egypt
Date14 October 2016
TargetSoldiers of the Egyptian Armed Forces
Attack type
Bomb attack, shooting
WeaponsMortar rounds, rockets and assault rifles
Deaths12
Injured8
Perpetrators Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant

The October 2016 Sinai attacks was a terrorist attack on an Egyptian army checkpoint in the city of Bir al-Abed, Egypt (located 40 kilometers west of Al-Arish), on 14 October 2016. A group of militants armed with assault rifles and heavier weapons attacked an Egyptian army checkpoint while mortar rounds and rockets were fired directed to a military checkpoint. In response, the Egyptian military forces killed around 15 militants following the attack. The Islamic State's Wilayat Sinai branch claimed responsibility in a statement released later the same day.[1][2][3]

According to Al Jazeera, Bir al-Abed had been largely spared the violence that had rocked northern Sinai by insurgents following the ouster of Morsi 3 years ago.[2] The attack came weeks after Egypt marks its first anniversary of the Metrojet Flight 9268 crash over the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015.

  1. ^ "12 Egypt soldiers killed in Sinai attack: army". Al-Monitor. Agence France-Presse. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  2. ^ a b "A dozen Egyptian troops killed in checkpoint attack". Al Jazeera. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  3. ^ Withnall, Adam. "Egypt: 12 dead in Isis attack on security checkpoint in central Sinai". The Independent. Retrieved 2 November 2016.