Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula
Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai PeninsulaAFP photo

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt claimed responsibility on Sunday night for a shooting attack which targeted at an IDF patrol near the border with Israel. The claim of responsibility was posted on a Facebook page associated with the Muslim Brotherhood.

According to the post on the Facebook page, the attack was carried out by terrorists who came from Egypt in four-wheel drive vehicles. When they reached the border area, the terrorists fired at an Israeli patrol using light weapons and anti-tank launchers.

Earlier, Channel 10 News reported that two masked gunmen had opened fire at an IDF patrol before escaping into the desert in an all-terrain vehicle. No one was injured in the clash.

Sinai-based terrorists have in the past committed terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, including the firing of rockets at Israeli civilian centers and other shooting attacks. In the bloodiest such attack, eight Israelis were killed by terrorists who infiltrated the Israel-Egypt border and attacked a civilian bus.

During the past two years there were a number of terrorist attacks originating in Egypt, using similar patterns as the one on Sunday evening. These attacks have been committed by groups associated with Al-Qaeda, some of them being Palestinian Authority-based terrorist organizations that are trying to recruit terrorists from Arab countries including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

This latest attack comes as the Egyptian military continues its campaign to root-out Islamist terrorist groups from the region, which has become increasingly lawless since the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

Nearly 40 terrorists have reportedly been killed in that operation, including several Hamas members, according to Egyptian military sources.

The violence in the area has been on the rise since the removal of President Mohammed Morsi by the Egyptian army.