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Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi (centre) holds an emergency meeting of the National Defence Council after the Sinai Peninsula attack on Friday. Photo: AP

Emergency rule declared in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula after bomb kills 30 troops

Egypt imposes three-month crisis measures after suicide car bombing kills 30 soldiers in this year's deadliest attack on security forces

AFP

A state of emergency came into force yesterday across parts of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula as the military pounded suspected jihadists after 30 soldiers were killed in a suicide car bombing.

The bombing was carried out by a suspected jihadist, who rammed a checkpoint with his explosives-packed vehicle, security officials said.

The emergency measures would last three months, the presidency said in the wake of the deadliest attack on security forces since the army deposed Islamist president Mohammed Mursi last year.

The Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip - the only route into the Palestinian territory not controlled by Israel - was also closed.

"The army and the police will take all necessary measures to tackle the dangers of terrorism and its financing, to preserve the security of the region ... and protect the lives of citizens," the presidential decree said.

The attack, in an agricultural area northwest of El-Arish, the main town in north Sinai, killed at least 30 soldiers and injured 29 others, medics said. A senior army official and five officers were said to be among those wounded.

Gunmen also shot dead an officer and wounded two soldiers at another checkpoint south of El-Arish on Friday, security officials said.

Jihadists in the peninsula have killed scores of policemen and soldiers since Mursi's overthrow to avenge a bloody police crackdown on his supporters.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief who toppled Mursi and later won elections, has pledged to eradicate the militants.

After Friday's attack, Sisi announced three days of national mourning and summoned a meeting of the national defence council - the country's highest security body - to discuss the killings, his office said.

After the meeting, Sisi said the attack was carried out with "external support" in order to "break the will of the Egyptian people and army".

The military launched fresh air strikes yesterday in northern Sinai, killing eight suspected militants, security officials said.

The European Union and United States both condemned the attack.

"The United States continues to support the Egyptian government's efforts to counter the threat of terrorism in Egypt as part of our commitments to the strategic partnership between our two countries," the US State Department said.

"We regret the loss of life and express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims," an EU spokesman said.

It was the latest in a string of bloody attacks against security forces in Egypt.

In August last year, just weeks after the army ousted Mursi, 25 soldiers were killed in the Sinai when gunmen, using automatic rifles and rocket launchers, opened fire at two buses transporting troops.

In July this year, 22 border guards were killed in the western desert near the border with Libya. Militants killed 17 policemen in two bombings in the Sinai later the same month and released footage of the attacks.

Those bombings were claimed by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the most active militant group in Egypt.

From the desert and mountainous Sinai, which borders the Gaza Strip and Israel, the attacks have also extended to the capital and the Nile Delta to the north.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis tried to assassinate the interior minister in Cairo with a car bomb last year. The group has expressed support for Islamic State group jihadists in Iraq and Syria, but has not formally pledged its allegiance.

The military has said it killed at least 22 militants this month, including an Ansar Beit al-Maqdis commander.

The group itself has acknowledged the arrests or deaths of militants, but the army has so far been unable to crush them despite a massive operation in which it has deployed attack helicopters and tanks.

The latest bombing came after an Egyptian military court sentenced to death seven Ansar Beit al-Maqdis members on Tuesday for carrying out deadly attacks on the army.

Since Mursi's ousting, more than 1,400 of his supporters have been killed in a crackdown by the authorities. Over 15,000 others have been jailed, including Mursi and the top leadership of his Muslim Brotherhood.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: State of emergency declared in Sinai
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