ISIL affiliate claims attack on Egypt navy boat near Sinai

The Takfiri ISIL terror group has claimed responsibility for a missile attack which set fire to a vessel belonging to the Egyptian army off North Sinai in the Mediterranean.

In a Thursday statement reported by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant activity, the ISIL affiliate in Egypt said it had fired a “guided missile” at the army boat which was sailing on the waters off Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula.

It also released three images showing the moment when an apparent guided anti-tank missile was striking the Egyptian navy boat.

Earlier in the day, the Egyptian army announced that one of its frigates had been attacked and set ablaze during clashes with the militants operating in Sinai.

No casualties were reported due to the incident. Other navy boats near the site of the attack reportedly helped rescue the burning ship’s crew.

On Wednesday, the Egyptian army reported that it had thwarted a car bomb attack against a military post between the capital, Cairo, and Suez Canal.

The Wednesday attempted attack was also claimed by the ISIL’s affiliate, known as Velayat Sinai.

Since the ouster of the former Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi, in a 2013 military coup, the North African state, particularly the Sinai Peninsula, has witnessed a sharp rise in the number of terror attacks targeting members of security forces.

Velayat Sinai, which has pledged allegiance to the ISIL, has been behind many of the terrorist attacks that have killed scores of police officers, soldiers and judiciary officials as well as civilians over the past months.