EL-ARISH: Egyptian security and hospital officials say two militant attacks in the restive northern part of the Sinai Peninsula have killed one soldier and wounded four.
In one Monday attack, they say fighters ambushed a military checkpoint near the town of Sheikh Zuweyid, firing several mortar shells that killed one conscript and wounded a soldier.
In another attack, they say attackers detonated a bomb by remote control as an armored vehicle passed, wounding four soldiers near the city of Rafah, which borders the Gaza Strip.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists. Egypt has been battling an Islamic insurgency in northern Sinai for years, but attacks against the army and police increased after the July 2013 ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.