Nine Egyptian soldiers were killed and ten others were injured after a suicide bomber blew up his car during an attack on a police station in the town of al-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula.

The car bomb attack reportedly took place as gunmen were also firing RPG missiles at the station.Four civilians in the area were also injured in the blast.

Egyptian military and police forces have been the target of ongoing attacks, which have increased since Egyptian President Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi took power from Muhammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013.

The Egyptian president came under attack following his violent suppression of Muslim Brotherhood members following his rise to power, which Sisi has argued is necessary to deter future attacks in the Sinai and across Egypt.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the militant group responsible for a majority of attacks on military personnel, aligned with the Islamic State group in November 2014, changing its name to Sinai Province.

Source: maannews.com