An army officer and five soldiers from the counter-terrorism operations in North Sinai were wounded on Wednesday in two terrorist attacks.
A military source said four soldiers were injured by a bomb hidden by terrorists on the Arish-Rafah international road in the Kharouba area, where armored vehicles and tanks were returning from a security campaign, adding that the bomb was detonated by remote control.
The source also said an army officer and another soldier were wounded when gunmen shot at their car while they were patrolling the border south of Rafah.
Army and police forces are combing the region in search for the assailants.
Meanwhile, another source said security forces in North Sinai arrested five terrorists and destroyed 63 alleged terrorist havens and four tunnels during a security crackdown in Bir al-Abd, Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah.
The crackdown campaign seized binoculars, army camouflage outfits that Hamas elements allgedly were wearing and two hand grenades branded with the Ezz Eddin al-Qassam logo, the military wing of Hamas.
Though army personnel have claimed all houses and property destroyed in the Sinai have been targeted, many Sinai residents say they military operations are random and many innocent people are harmed in the process.
Ibrahim Menai, head of the Sinai Sheikhs Union, told Egypt Independent that the army is running a "scorched earth" campaign in Sinai. He alleges his house was destroyed in November by the armed forces in retaliation for speaking to media.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
