At least 11 civilians and two soldiers were killed in three separate attacks in Egypt's northern Sinai Peninsula, AP reported citing military officials as saying. The biggest attack out of the three killed nine civilians when a mortar shell hit a house in a residential area on Wednesday, near the town of Sheik Zuweid. Another attack killed two residents, as a house was destroyed with a missile. In the third incident, a roadside bomb blast hit army vehicles outside the provincial capital Al Arish, killing two soldiers, military officials said. The violence against the government forces in northern Sinai intensified after the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Moreover, in November of last year a local militant group dubbed the Province of Sinai pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
