23 killed in car bomb attack at military checkpoint in Egypt’s Sinai

Egyptian security officials have raised the toll from a blitz attack by Islamic militants in Sinai to 23 soldiers killed and 33 wounded, making it one of the deadliest attacks in the volatile peninsula this year.

Officials say the militants unleashed a suicide car bomb and heavy gunfire on an Egyptian military checkpoint in the northeastern Sinai Peninsula on Friday morning.

The initial death toll was placed at 10. Officials later told the Associated Press that more bodies were retrieved from the rubble of a demolished building at the site.

The attack took place in the village of el-Barth just south of the town of Rafah. Authorities say five officers are among those killed, including a high-ranking special forces officer, Col. Ahmed el-Mansi.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media.

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UPDATES:

7 a.m.: This article was updated with the latest death toll.

This article was originally posted at 1:45 a.m.