At least five Egyptian soldiers have been killed in two militant ambushes in the volatile North Sinai region, a bastion of a burgeoning Islamist insurgency, Ahram Arabic news website reported. Eleven other security personnel were wounded in the simultaneous attacks that took place in the towns of Sheikh Zuweid and Al-Arish early on Thursday. The injured were ferried to a military hospital in Al-Arish, the provincal capital. Egypt's army has struggled to crush an Islamist insurrection based in the northern part of Sinai Peninsula, which has heightened since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. The violence has mainly targeted security forces, killing hundreds in the past 19 months. Late in January, simultaneous attacks by jihadist fighters targeted security forces with rockets and car bombs in Al-Arish, killing at least 30, including civilians. The violence was the deadliest since Islamist militants killed 31 soldiers and wounded tens of others in October 2014 in northern Sinai, which adjoins Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Both assaults were claimed by Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, Egypt's most active militant group which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State jihadist group late last year. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/126688.aspx
