Egyptian affiliate of IS claims responsibility for deadly Sinai attacks

The Egyptian affiliate of Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in the Sinai Peninsula on army checkpoints that killed two civilians and 15 soldiers.

According to News24, in the restive Sinai, jihadists launched simultaneous attacks on five checkpoints with assault rifles and grenade launchers. The attack was the deadliest in months against Egyptian security forces.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis changed its name last year to Sinai Province after pledging allegiance to IS, that controls large parts of Iraq and Syria.

The group wants to establish a province of the self-declared IS caliphate in Egypt.

They said that the attacks were in retaliation to a deadly government crackdown against Islamists.