20120813
Press TV
At least six gunmen have been killed in fresh clashes with the Egyptian security forces in Sinai amid tensions which continue to rise in the peninsula.



The development came on Sunday as the Egyptian army has launched a massive operation to hunt down armed groups in Sinai.

Earlier in the day, Egyptian state television reported that the clashes with the gunmen claimed the lives of three soldiers. However, the African country’s security officials say the soldiers lost their lives in a road accident elsewhere in Sinai some five hours before the attack.

Last week gunmen killed 16 Egyptian border security guards and injured several others near the Sinai border with the Occupied Territories.


On Monday, an official statement by the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas condemned the attack and dismissed the idea that people from inside Gaza may have been involved.

Police checkpoints in the region have come under a series of attacks by armed assailants over the past few days.