Egyptian soldier killed in Islamist militant attack: medics

CAIRO, July 05, 2013 (AFP)

An Egyptian soldier was killed early Friday in coordinated rocket and machinegun attacks by Islamist militants on army checkpoints and a police base in the restive Sinai, medics said.

Two other soldiers were wounded when Islamist militants fired on an army checkpoint near the north Sinai village of al-Gura. Elsewhere, militants attacked a police base with rockets, security sources said.

Hardcore Islamist militants have used the sparsely populated north of the peninsula as a launching pad for attacks on security forces and neighbouring Israel.

Following president Mohamed Morsi’s ouster by the military on Thursday, several militants have publicly threatened violence in retaliation.

Morsi, elected in June 2012 and deposed on Wednesday after mass protests, had himself ordered a crackdown on Sinai militants after an August 2012 attack killed 16 soldiers.