Four Egyptian soldiers were killed and 13 others injured when militants attacked their bus in the restive Sinai Peninsula today, prompting the military to threaten the complete elimination of members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
The attack took place 50 metres from a security checkpoint and comes a day after militant group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for bringing down a military helicopter in a rocket attack in North Sinai that killed its crew of five soldiers.
The 13 soldiers injured in today's attack were taken to Suez military hospital.
The army blames the Muslim Brotherhood for most of the violence in the country. Militants have stepped up attacks on security forces following the ouster of former Islamist president Mohammed Morsi by the powerful army in July last year.
Reacting to the latest attack, army in a Facebook statement said, "We assure the Egyptian people of the great determination of its men to fight black terrorism and the complete elimination of the advocates of oppression and sedition and blasphemy from followers of the Muslim Brotherhood."
The army-backed Egyptian government declared the Muslim brotherhood as terrorist organisation after the ouster of Morsi and arrested its members as part of an intensified crackdown on the Islamist group.
The attack also came as Egypt marked the anniversary of the 2011 revolution that led to the ouster of long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak. Nearly 50 people have been killed in deadly violence during rival rallies yesterday.
