ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility for the Arish terror attack in Egypt

The ISIS terrorist group claimed responsibility on Sunday for the al-Arish ambush against Egyptian police, saying that 15 soldiers were killed and wounded in the attack.

Egyptian official media had initially said that four terrorists were killed in a failed ambush. It did not disclose the number of police casualties.

The official MENA news agency, however, reported on Sunday that four recruits were killed and nine others wounded in the attack in the northern Sinai region.

It did not reveal the identities of the victims, but two military funerals were held on Saturday.

Ahmed Ali Youssef Jalal, 22, was laid to rest in the Luxor region, while Mustafa Ahmed Abd Rabo, 21, was laid to rest in al-Faiyum.

ISIS, for its part, did not disclose the number of its victims in the attack.

An informed source told MENA on Saturday that the police confronted the attackers, leaving four of them dead, while the rest fled the area.

The security forces seized ten explosives at the scene, as well as four automatic weapons, rocket-propelled grenades, three explosives belts, hand grenades, a camera and a mobile phone.

Terrorist activity spiked in the northern and central Sinai regions after the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

The army and security forces have since February 9 been waging a campaign to eliminate terrorists from the peninsula.

Source: Aawsat