CAIRO — Egyptian warplanes launched airstrikes and troops went house-to-house Thursday in the troubled Sinai Peninsula, a day after Islamic State-linked militants set off the area’s bloodiest fighting in decades in an unprecedented, coordinated attack.
The combat, described as “war” by the media and officials, heightened tensions across Egypt as it marks Friday’s second anniversary of the military’s overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, a move that fanned an insurgency in north Sinai that has grown stronger.
It also follows the dramatic assassination this week of the country’s chief prosecutor in a car bombing in Cairo, prompting general-turned-politician President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to press for even harsher anti-terrorism laws targeting Islamic militants.
A special forces raid Wednesday on a Cairo apartment killed nine members of Morsi’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which responded by calling for a “rebellion.”
Air raids at dawn Thursday killed 23 extremists just south of Rafah, a key Sinai border town near the Gaza Strip, Sinai security officials said. They added that the army was searching for militants in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, where a string of army checkpoints were attacked a day earlier.
Soldiers were demining roads in and around the area that had been booby trapped with mines and improvised explosive devices, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The army also raided a house in Rafah, killing six armed Islamic State militants wearing military uniforms, the officials said, adding that it had cleared the area around the Sheikh Zuweid police station of mines and IEDs.
An Associated Press reporter across the border in the Gaza Strip heard explosions and saw smoke rising in the area as airstrikes continued and warplanes roared overhead. Two armored personnel carriers were seen maneuvering in the border area.
Militants in northern Sinai have battled security forces for years, but they stepped up their attacks after Morsi’s ouster on July 3, 2013, which followed mass demonstrations against his rule. El-Sissi led the ouster and was elected president last year.
Authorities and pro-government media have blamed much of the recent violence on the Brotherhood, which has been branded a terrorist group. The Brotherhood denies involvement, although it and other Morsi supporters have faced a sweeping crackdown that has led to thousands of arrests, mass convictions and death sentences. Morsi is among those condemned to die, but he has appealed.
