Roadside bomb kills senior army officer in Egypt’s Sinai

Egypt: Egyptian security and hospital officials say a roadside bomb planted by militants in the Sinai Peninsula has hit a military vehicle, killing a senior army officer.

They say the colonel, who was the military commander of the town of Bir Al Abd, was killed while patrolling in an armoured vehicle in an area just outside the town.

Bir Al Abd was the scene of deadliest terrorist attack against civilians on November 24, when militants killed 311 worshippers in a mosque. Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi has vowed to use “brute force” to crush the long-running insurgency in northern Sinai and given the military and police three months to restore “security and stability” there.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.