Three army soldiers were killed and four others injured in an explosion in the El-Halal mountain area in central Sinai, the Egyptian army said on Friday. The explosion occurred during a raid on "terrorist hideouts" by the third field army and police forces in the area. The raid also resulted in the death of three militants and the arrest of three others, an army spokesman said on his official Facebook page. Egypt's army and police forces have been waging a war over the past three years against an Islamist militant insurgency in North Sinai. Hundreds have been killed in the violence. Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi issued a decree establishing an emergency state in parts of North Sinai in October 2014, and it has been renewed since then. Under the state of emergency, Egypt's army and police have the authority to "take any action necessary to confront terrorism and protect public and private property in the areas under the emergency state". The curfew lasts from 5pm to 7am.
