Isis militants gun down Egyptian soldiers in attack on Sinai checkpoint

Isis-linked militants in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula attacked a military checkpoint killing 12 soldiers, Egyptian officials said.

Officials said the attack about 50 miles (80km) west of the Suez Canal in the town of Bir al-Abd also injured eight soldiers, AP reported.

The attack on Friday (14 October) took place 40km from the town of Bir al-Abd, and was carried out using assault rifles and some heavier weapons, sources told Reuters news agency.

The Egyptian military has fought Islamic militants in Sinai for years, however, militant groups have grown stronger following the 2013 ousting of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in a military coup.

The groups are now led by an affiliate of Islamic State (Isis/Daesh), which has claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on police, military, and civilian targets in Egypt, as well as the 2015 downing of a Russian airliner.