Five Egyptian security personnel killed in Sinai gun attacks

Unidentified gunmen killed at least five Egyptian soldiers and policemen on Thursday in two separate gun attacks in northern Sinai, an area under emergency rule due to militant violence, security and medical sources said.       

Three soldiers on leave were traveling in a taxi near Sheikh Zuweid when they were ambushed and shot dead, the sources said. In a separate incident in Rafah, bordering the Gaza Strip, gunmen stopped a car carrying two police conscripts and killed them.         

Militants have killed hundreds of soldiers and police, mostly in Sinai since the army toppled President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 after protests against his rule. The army declared a three-month state of emergency in the area last month after 33 security personnel were killed in two attacks.         

Egypt's most active militant group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, this week swore allegiance to Islamic State, the al Qaeda offshoot which has seized territory in Syria and Iraq.

Also on Thursday, an Egyptian army spokesman said eight sailors are missing after an assault by "terrorist elements" on a navy patrol boat off one of the country's Mediterranean ports.           

Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir said in a statement on his official Facebook page early on Thursday that four assault boats were destroyed and that 32 attackers were arrested.          

Five troops were also wounded in the attack.          

Earlier, the official MENA news agency said gunmen from three boats fired at the naval patrol Wednesday north of the port of Damietta, prompting an exchange of fire.           

No further details were available.            

Human smuggling is common in the Mediterranean. Egyptian troops have increasingly come under attack from militants since the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi last year, though attacks at sea are extremely rare.