Friday, October 24, 2014

El-Sisi Calls Urgent National Defence Council Meeting Over North Sinai Attack
Egyptian military convoy.
Ahram Online, Friday 24 Oct 2014

Egypt's president calls for emergency meeting on Friday after a car bomb killed at least 25 soldiers in North Sinai

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called for an urgent meeting with the National Defence Council on Friday afternoon after a militant attack on army forces in North Sinai killed at least 29 soldiers.

El-Sisi and the council will discuss the security situation in North Sinai, according to Egypt's state-run TV.

The National Defence Council is made up of the prime minister, the head of the parliament, the minister of defence and the commanders of the Egyptian armed forces, and is chaired by the president.

A car bomb detonated at an army checkpoint in Karm Al-Kwadis in the North Sinai city of Sheikh Zuwaid earlier on Friday, killing at least 25 soldiers and injuring 26, a security source told Reuters' Aswat Masriya news website.

Army helicopters have been sent to the scene to transfer the injured to hospitals, said the head of North Sinai's Doctors Syndicate, speaking with private satellite station CBC Extra News.

Al-Ahram's correspondent in North Sinai said the explosion was caused by a car bomb.

A militant insurgency by jihadist groups in Sinai has become more active since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Hundreds of police and army officers and personnel as well as militants have been killed in the violence.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/113866.aspx

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