Manama, July 2 (BNA): The Kingdom of Bahrain strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in the northern part of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday which killed tens of soldiers and policemen. “The most violent took place in north Sinai when a auto bomb blast killed tens of troops”.

It raised questions about the government’s ability to contain an insurgency that has already killed hundreds of police and soldiers.

The Sinai attacks were the most brazen in their scope since jihadists launched an insurgency in 2013 after the army, under Sisi’s command, overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Officials said the army was also seeking out militants house to house in the town of Sheikh Zuweid – where dozens of militants attacked as many as 15 army checkpoints – and demining roads in and around the area that extremists had booby trapped with mines and improvised explosives devices.

He didn’t give a new death toll for militant casualties.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that “Bytul-Maqdis [an ISIS affiliated militia group in eastern Egypt] has developed its operational abilities against the Egyptian army in Sinai”.

The military spokesman posted photographs on his Facebook page of militants killed in the fighting. They were dressed in fatigues.

The militants withdrew from Sheikh Zuweid after nearly eight hours of fighting, The officials said. “But we have dealt with them and broke the siege”, one of the sources said.

During the day, militants managed to surround Sheikh Zuweid police station. Twenty-two militants were killed in the attacks, Samir added. Clashes were still ongoing through Wednesday afternoon.

The recent wave of terror attacks in Egypt comes at the height of an upswing in ties between Israel and Egypt, which started over the past year when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came into power, in light of the common enemies and interests the two countries share. The government’s trouble controlling the country’s vast northern territory, where weapons smuggling from both Libya and the Gaza Strip was rife, has allowed the group to flourish.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that “ISIS is not just on the Golan, they are in Egypt as well, near Rafah, near our border”.

As mentioned by BICOM (Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre) Israel approved reinforcements along the Israeli border as well.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to the media.

Sisi’s government does not distinguish between the now-outlawed Brotherhood, which says it is committed to peaceful activism, and other militants. Morsi himself was also given a death sentence along with other senior members, a verdict which is currently subject to appeal.

In a statement, the cabinet said it had endorsed a raft of new laws aimed at providing “swifter justice and retribution”.

The sources said authorities had received information the group was planning to carry out an attack.

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The officials say the number of troops killed has now climbed to 38. Father Rafic Greiche said that “it is time to be united against terrorists, against those who want to provoke violence and bring the war to the Sinai peninsula”.