BEIRUT (Reuters) - Egyptian troops were killed in an attack on a security post in the northern Sinai town of Bir al-Abed on Friday, police said.
The authorities did not immediately issue a statement to clarify the circumstances of the attack and the number of dead and wounded. But the German news agency quoted a security source as saying that the attack on the point known as the "ambush of an apple", killed three soldiers and a civilian, and wounded four others.
Egyptian warplanes killed 15 gunmen, the source said.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and said it killed 15 military personnel, including an officer.
The organization's Amaq agency said its fighters clashed with soldiers with various types of weapons and managed to finish them off.
The attack came amid security alert across Egypt to counter calls to demonstrate against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in what was called "Friday of salvation."
El-Sisi pointed to the attack in his Twitter tweets this evening.
He added that "the cancer of terrorism is still trying to kidnap this country but we stand firm, we fight it with all our strength and faith.
He continued that "our battle with terrorism did not and will not end without the will of the people determined to eliminate all kinds, whether terrorism of minds or selves, and therefore I would like to be the goal of our nation is to eliminate this terrorism."
Earlier, the Egyptian army issued a statement on state television announcing the elimination of 118 militants, killing and wounding an officer and nine soldiers in north and central Sinai within an unspecified period of time.