Three police soldiers were reportedly killed Tuesday night and seven others wounded in two explosions in Egypt's North Sinai governorate, where Islamist militants are active and have pledged allegiance to the "Islamic State" (IS). According to media statements issued from security sources, one of the dead soldiers was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in his armoured vehicle that was part of a security carding patrol targeting militants from an IS affiliated group in Sinai. A soldier was also killed Tuesday when an IED detonated near an armoured police vehicle that was on patrol in the El-Mahdia region in Rafah in the North Sinai governorate, according to state-run newspaper Akhbar Al-Youm. A delegation from the National Human Rights Council (NHRC) had a meeting Tuesday with North Sinai Governor Maj. Gen. Abdel Fattah as part of their current visit to North Sinai to inspect health facilities. According to state-run TV, the meeting discussed a number of the governorate's demands in the health sector, including the lack of specialists such as neurologists and emergency medical technicians. Governor of North Sinai emphasised the necessity of rapidly establishing the Faculty of Medicine in North Sinai to cover the deficit in the various disciplines in hospitals and health units in various areas. Members of the NCHR delegation stressed that North Sinai contains medical and health institutions that are equipped with the latest medical devices and facilities. During their inspection tour, the delegation visited a number of medical and health institutions in different areas of North Sinai. The Egyptian armed forces have suffered extensive causalities during the counter-insurgency programme carried out by the military since the ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. The armed forces and police have been engaged in clashes with "Sinai Province" militants over the past week. On Friday, a police offer was reported killed after fighting in Rafah. The officer died while receiving treatment in Maadi Military Hospital. The Egyptian armed forces announced it killed five militants following clashes in Sheikh Zuweid city in North Sinai. On the official spokesperson's Facebook page, the armed forces indicated that troops from the Second Field Army were on patrol when they were shot at by a number of militants. They received orders to open fire on the militants and killed five of them, according to the statement. On Monday, the "Sinai Province" claimed responsibility for an IED explosion that killed five soldiers in Al-Arish in the governorate of North Sinai.
