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On October 14, a soldier of the Egyptian Armed Forces and two pro-government tribal fighters were killed by ISIS cells in the Sinai Peninsula.
The terrorists killed the three while attacking a joint force that was combing the coast of Rafah city in northeastern Sinai. Heavy clashes were reported during the attack.
Egyptian news sources identified the casualties as private Muhammad Jamal and tribal fighters Mustafa Abu Khuwaiter al-Sawarka and Harun Hussein Abu Asim. The sources also revealed that a terrorist of ISIS was killed while taking part in the attack.
Egyptian government forces and pro-government tribesmen stepped up their counter-terrorism operations in Sinai following a series of attacks by ISIS between May and June.
Despite these efforts, the terrorist group’s cells in Sinai are still fairly active. On September 30, an Egyptian officer was killed by the terrorists to the west of the city of Bir al-Abd in northern Sinai. Later on October 5, a pro-government tribal fighter was killed during clashes with the terrorists on the coast of Rafah.
ISIS has been waging an insurgency against Egyptian government forces and pro-government tribesmen in Sinai for more than eight years. The terrorist group’s recent attacks indicate that the insurgency will not end any time soon.