MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The militant group Sinai Province, loyal to the Islamic State (ISIL) group, has claimed responsibility for the attack on Egyptian judges residing at a hotel in the Sinai Peninsula, a monitoring group said Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, a suicide bomber blew a car near a hotel in al-Arish on the Mediterranean Sea where judges following the results of the parliamentary elections in the country were staying. The attack killed at least four people.
"Sinai Province of the Islamic State (ISIL) claimed credit for the suicide attack on Egyptian judges residing at the Swiss Inn Hotel in the city of al-Arish," the SITE monitoring group, specializing in jihadist news and developments, said.
24 November 2015, 06:39 GMT
The Sinai Province, which pledged allegiance to the IS group in November 2014, is notorious mostly for targeting military and security forces in the region. Recently, the group has also expanded its operations outside Sinai, notably in Egypt's Western Desert, relatively popular among tourists.
Egypt has been conducting anti-terrorist operations in North Sinai for the last two years, particularly against the Sinai Province previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis.
