Roadside bombs kills 6 soldiers in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula

EL-ARISH, Egypt – Egyptian security and hospital officials say a roadside bomb has struck a military armoured vehicle in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, killing six soldiers.

The officials say the attack on Tuesday also wounded six other soldiers. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group, which is fighting army and security forces in northern Sinai.

Militants have been battling security forces in that area for years, but their attacks have grown much deadlier and more frequent since the ouster in July 2013 of the Islamist Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, following mass protests against his divisive, one-year rule.