Egyptian soldiers keep guard during a military operation in the Egyptian city of Rafah, near the border with the southern Gaza Strip Oct. 30, 2014.

Three Egyptian soldiers, including a colonel, were shot dead by gunmen in northern Sinai on Wednesday, the interior ministry said.

Gunmen in a car ambushed the soldiers while they travelling in a pick-up truck in North Sinai’s provincial capital of el-Arish, the ministry added in a statement.

The attack came several days after two policemen were killed in a roadside bombing at the entrance to the town, AFP reported.

Egypt’s military is battling an Islamist insurgency in the peninsula that has left scores of policemen and soldiers dead since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohammad Mursi last year and cracked down on his supporters.

The government declared a state of emergency in parts of North Sinai after an October 24 suicide attack near El-Arish killed at least 30 soldiers in the deadliest assault on security forces since Mursi’s ouster.

Militant groups claim their attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown targeting Islamists that has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.

 
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