Story highlights Assailants attacked the checkpoint using four-wheel drive vehicles

Egyptian military officials are sweeping the area for remains of the militant group

(CNN) An attack by "armed terrorists" on a security checkpoint in the northern half of the Sinai Peninsula on Friday has left a dozen military personnel dead, according to Egypt's military. Fifteen terrorists also died in the attack.

The assailants attacked the checkpoint using four-wheel drive vehicles, the military said in a statement. Egyptian military officials are sweeping the area for remains of the militant group.

This is the latest attack in a battle for control over the Sinai Peninsula between Islamist militants and the Egyptian military. The militants have been waging an insurgency against the military since the army toppled President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.</s>ISMAILIA, Egypt (Reuters) - Islamist militants killed 12 members of Egypt’s military in North Sinai province and wounded six more in an attack on a checkpoint on Friday, the military said, adding that it killed 15 militants in return.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the incident, which took place 40 km (25 miles) from the town of Bir al-Abd, making it the first major attack in the central Sinai area, which had so far escaped the militant Islamists’ campaign.

It was carried out using assault rifles and some heavier weapons, medical and security sources said. The wounded were taken to hospital in al-Arish.

“An armed group of terrorist elements attacked a security checkpoint in North Sinai this morning using four-wheel drives and were immediately engaged. Our forces killed 15 terrorists,” the military said in a statement. “The clashes led to the martyrdom of 12 and injury of six armed forces heroes.”

Islamic State said it killed more than 20 soldiers and that it suffered no casualties. It said its members looted weapons and ammunition from the checkpoint.

“A number of the caliphate’s soldiers have launched an attack on a checkpoint belonging to the apostate Egyptian army south of Bir al-Abd that killed over 20 apostates and injured more,” the group said in a statement.

An Islamist insurgency in the rugged and thinly populated Sinai Peninsula gained pace after the Egyptian military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s oldest Islamist movement, in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule.

The militant group staging the insurgency pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2014 and adopted the name Sinai Province. It is blamed for the killing of hundreds of soldiers and policemen, and has started to target Western targets within Egypt.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former military chief who led the overthrow of Mursi, describes Islamist militancy as an existential threat to Egypt, an ally of the United States. Islamic State controls large parts of Iraq and Syria and has a strong presence in Libya, which borders Egypt.</s>An attack Friday by "armed terrorists" on a security checkpoint in northern Sinai has left 12 military personnel and 15 terrorists dead, according to Egypt's military. The assailants attacked the checkpoint using vehicles. Egyptian military officials are sweeping the area for remains of the group.</s>Jihadists have mounted a string of deadly operations against security forces since the military ousted Egypt's Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. By STR (AFP/File)

Cairo (AFP) - An attack on an Egyptian military checkpoint killed 12 soldiers and wounded six others on Friday in the Sinai Peninsula where security forces are fighting jihadists, the army said.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mortar rounds and rockets were fired at the army post, a police official and a medic told AFP.

The army spokesman said in a statement that soldiers clashed with the assailants in the northern Sinai.

"Terrorist elements attacked a checkpoint in the northern Sinai. The clashes left 12 soldiers dead and wounded six others," the statement said.

It said that "15 terrorists were killed".

But the jihadist IS group, in a statement on the smartphone app Telegram, said its "soldiers" were "safe and sound" and had seized arms and ammunitions during the attack on the military checkpoint.

The attack took place in the Bir al-Abd area west of El-Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai, the officials said.

The Egyptian affiliate of IS has claimed several attacks on security forces and foreigners in the Sinai in the past.

Bir al-Abd has so far been largely spared the violence that has rocked northern Sinai over the past three years.

Jihadists in Egypt have killed hundreds of soldiers and police since the military overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

They pledged allegiance to IS more than a year later, and their attacks have persisted despite a sweeping military campaign in the peninsula which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Earlier this month, gunmen killed five Egyptian police conscripts in El-Arish.

The jihadists claimed the bombing last year of a Russian airliner carrying tourists home from a Sinai resort. All 224 people on board were killed.</s>Suspected Islamic State gunmen killed 12 members of Egypt's security forces in North Sinai province and injured eight more in an attack on a checkpoint on Friday, medical and security sources said.

The attack took place 40 km (25 miles) away from the town of Bir al-Abd, making it the first major attack in the central Sinai area, which had so far escaped a campaign of Islamist attacks. It was carried out using assault rifles and some heavier weapons, the sources said. The wounded were taken to hospital in el-Arish.</s>Suspected Islamic State gunmen killed 12 members of Egypt’s security forces in North Sinai province and injured eight more in an attack on a checkpoint on Friday, medical and security sources said.

The attack took place 40km from the town of Bir al-Abd, making it the first major attack in the central Sinai area, which had so far escaped a campaign of Islamist attacks.

It was carried out using assault rifles and some heavier weapons, the sources said. The wounded were taken to hospital in el-Arish.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s foreign ministry has sharply criticised the US Embassy in Cairo for advising citizens to avoid large gatherings in the capital until Sunday, calling the move “unjustifiable”.

The largest Arab nation is currently battling an Islamist insurgency mainly concentrated in the Sinai Peninsula and which gained pace after its military ousted President Mohamed Mursi, an Islamist, in 2013 after mass protests against his rule. There have been occasional militant attacks in Cairo and other cities.

The US Embassy’s message warned against being in public spaces such as concert halls, movie theatres, museums, shopping malls, and sports venues citing “potential security concerns”, but did not specify what they were.

“The foreign ministry spokesman has conveyed his annoyance at the warning released by the United States embassy in Cairo to Americans,” the ministry said in a statement. “(This) raises questions over the reasons this statement was released in such a way.”

The ministry said it contacted the embassy over the warning and that it was told there were no specific reasons or threats behind the move. The ministry quoted the embassy as telling it that the warning was a routine measure taken every time there is a long weekend and thus more crowding in public areas.

Thursday was a public holiday in Egypt in celebration of Armed Forces Day.

The Egyptian weekend is Friday and Saturday.

The foreign ministry said it expressed dismay to the embassy because such “unjustifiable warnings” could have negative effects especially on the economy.

It cautioned all embassies in Egypt against “releasing unjustified” warnings. The British and Canadian embassies had issued similar warnings to avoid public gatherings until Sunday but were not specifically mentioned in the statement.

The insurgency, mounted by Islamic State’s Egyptian branch Sinai Province, has killed hundreds of soldiers and police and begun to attack Western targets within the country.

The attacks have dented the recovery of tourism after a 2011 uprising drove away tourists, a major source of hard currency. Import-dependent Egypt is facing a dollar shortage that has stifled business activity and hit confidence in the economy.</s>EL-ARISH, Egypt — Egyptian security and medical officials say suspected Islamic militants have attacked an army checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula, killing 12 soldiers.

The officials say the Friday attack about 80 (50 miles) east of the Suez Canal wounded another eight soldiers. They had no word on casualties among the militants.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Egypt has for years battled militants in Sinai, but the insurgency has grown deadlier and spread into the mainland since the 2013 ouster of an elected Islamist president. The militants are now led by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group.

There has been a recent surge in attacks in Sinai, but attacks elsewhere in Egypt have declined.</s>Islamic State claimed responsibility on Friday for the attack on a checkpoint 40 km (25 miles) from the town of Bir al-Abd. It was the first major attack in the central Sinai area, which had so far escaped the militants' insurgency.

"A targeted air strike, which lasted for three hours, resulted in the destruction of the areas ... that harbored terrorists, as well as locations for assembling weapons and ammunition," the statement said, adding that the operation was continuing.

Islamic State said in its statement on Friday that it had killed more than 20 soldiers while suffering no losses itself. The military said 15 attackers had been killed.

The Islamist insurgency in the rugged and thinly populated Sinai Peninsula gained pace after the military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's oldest Islamist movement, in mid-2013 following mass protests against his rule.

The group staging the insurgency pledged allegiance to Islamic State in 2014 and adopted the name Sinai Province. It is blamed for the killing of hundreds of soldiers and policemen, and has started to target Western targets within Egypt.</s>CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said in comments published on Saturday that his country's war against Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula would be long, but that conditions in the vast and arid region were improving.

In an interview with Egypt's three state-owned newspapers, he acknowledged that both the militants and government forces were getting better at fighting each other in the strategic area bordering Israel and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

"Conditions in Sinai are improving and (our) efforts are continuing because the war is long," said el-Sissi, whose comments came one day after Islamic State militants attacked an army checkpoint in Sinai, killing 12 soldiers and wounding at least six more.

"The terrorists are evolving and we are improving our operations," he said.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement Saturday, saying its fighters killed 20 "apostates" and seized all weapons at the checkpoint, located about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of the Suez Canal, near the town of Bir el-Abd.

The Egyptian military said Friday that troops killed 15 militants in a gun battle at the checkpoint. The IS statement said its fighters had "returned safely" to their base.

Journalists have had virtually no access to northern Sinai in recent years.

Responding to criticism that the military might be distracted by its growing involvement in large civilian infrastructure projects, el-Sissi sought to reassure Egyptians that the armed forces remain committed to their core task.

He said the military's role in the economy would "recede" in coming years, adding: "Rest assured the armed forces are capable and qualified to protect Egypt."

El-Sissi was Egypt's top general when he led the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi, an elected but divisive Islamist president, in 2013. El-Sissi was elected president the following year.</s>The Egyptian military has launched airstrikes on "terrorist positions" in the Sinai peninsula "to avenge the blood" of its soldiers killed in an attack on a military checkpoint Friday, according to an army statement.

While the military did not specifically name the group, ISIS claimed responsibility for Friday's attack that left at least 12 soldiers and 15 of the assailants dead.

According to the army statement, released Saturday, the three-hour air operation targeted several concentrations of militants, destroyed ammunition and weapons storage facilities, destroyed seven vehicles and killed an unspecified number of militants.

The attackers hit the checkpoint using four-wheel drive vehicles, the Egyptian military said.

It's the latest attack in a battle for control over the Sinai Peninsula between Islamist militants and Egyptian forces. Militancy in the Sinai increased dramatically after the army toppled President Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. In August, the military said it had killed a key ISIS-allied leader in the region, along with dozens of his fighters.
A suspected ISIL attack on a security checkpoint in North Sinai Governorate, Egypt, leaves at least 12 Egyptian military personnel and 15 terrorists dead.