Six police officers and one civilian were injured on Monday evening, when an improvised explosive device (IED) targeting an armoured vehicle was detonated in Al-Arish city in North Sinai. The armoured police vehicle had been part of a security sweep in the Sad Wadi Al-Arish suburb, a North Sinai-based journalist told Daily News Egypt Tuesday on condition of anonymity. It is believed that the attack was carried out by the Islamic State (IS)-affiliated group Sinai Province, whose militants frequently plant IEDs in Rafah, Sheikh Zuweid, and Al-Arish in North Sinai. The IEDs are used to mainly target army and police patrols that carry out daily security sweeps in an attempt to arrest Sinai Province members and other perpetrators of attacks against army and police checkpoints in North Sinai. Due to continuous escalation of the military insurgency in North Sinai, the army launched a military campaign in 2013 to curb IS militant activities in the peninsula. In the same context, residents of the aforementioned cities are living with a permanent threat to their safety due to clashes between the army, police, and Sinai Province. Recently, a number of civilians were killed by detonations of IEDs that were planted by Sinai Province to target military patrols. On Sunday, four residents from Al-Arish were killed and another three were injured when an IED detonated on Al-Bahr Street, targeting military patrol. The victims were taken to Al-Arish public hospital where a group of residents gathered in front of the hospital in protest to the fragile security situation in the area. "Sinai Province is believed to be responsible for planting the IED in an attempt to target a military patrol that might pass through Al-Bahr Street," a North Sinai-based journalist told Daily News Egypt Sunday.
