Two Egyptian rankers were killed and another injured in an attack by Wilayet Sinai, the ISIS local branch, in Rafah, North Sinai.

Military sources said that the rankers were shot dead in an attack on a checkpoint affiliated to the border guards. The incident continues a series of attacks launched by ISIS militants in Sinai against the Egyptian governmental corps there, which suffered serious casualties.

Regarding the escalation of ISIS attacks, the military expert Saif Ali told Egypt Watch that the insurgency in Sinai has turned into a local conflict. “ISIS depends now mainly on local militants from Sinai,” said Ali. “They seek reprisal for grievances caused by the Egyptian military policies in Sinai.”

Ali explained that the Egyptian regime could benefit from such escalation: “Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi could attempt to use such attacks before the Biden administration to justify his human rights violations.”