F-16 fighter jet (file)
F-16 fighter jet (file)Flash 90

Egyptian air force F-16 fighter jets pounded jihadist positions in the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel, Wednesday afternoon.

The airstrikes were in response to a deadly coordinated attack against 15 separate military positions by an affiliate of the ISIS terrorist group, which left at least 50 Egyptian soldiers dead.

Egyptian security officials said jets hit ISIS positions in the town of Sheikh Zuweid, where terrorists had virtually taken over the town, setting barricades, beseiging the local police station and mining the streets.

The "Sinai Province" of the Islamic State (ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attack shortly after it took place. The jihadist assault involved three suicide bombers and among other things targeted an Egyptian army officers' club.

The attack came just one day after Egypt's President Sisi vowed to crackdown on Islamist terrorists, following the assassination of Egypt's top prosecutor in a Cairo bombing on Monday that was also claimed by ISIS.

Under Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, airstrikes and other major military deployments in the Sinai Peninsula require Israeli approval, since it is technically a demilitarized zone. Israel has been quick to approve Egyptian offensives against the jihadists on its borders in the past, but Wednesday's attack underscores the resilience of the terrorists, who have been waged a years-long insurgency against the Egyptian government.