CAIRO (AP) – At least 11 Egyptian troops, including an officer, were killed on Saturday in a militant attack on a water pumping station east of the Suez Canal, the military said.
In a statement, it said at least five other troops were wounded in the attack, one of the deadliest against Egyptian security forces in recent years.
Troops thwarted the attacks and were pursuing militants in an isolated area of the northern Sinai Peninsula, the statement added. President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi mourned the death of the troops, vowing in a Facebook post to the continue fighting the militants.
Two Northern Sinai residents said the attack took place in the town of Qantara in the province of Ismailia, which stretches eastwards from the Suez Canal.
The militants ambushed troops guarding the facility, before fleeing to the desert in Northern Sinai, according to residents.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
