CAIRO: Egyptians wept on Wednesday as they read the dying words of a soldier killed in a Daesh terrorist attack in North Sinai.
“You won’t be able to rescue me,” Capt. Amr El-Kady told comrades by two-way radio as he lay wounded after being shot three times.
“Please tell my mother that her son died like a man, and take good care of her,” he said. “I made many mistakes, pray to God to forgive me.”
El-Kady was one of six soldiers and two police officers killed in the Daesh attack early on Wednesday on a security checkpoint near El-Arish. Five militants also died in the attack and others were on the run, Egypt’s Interior Ministry said.
Footballer Mohamed Salah was among the Egyptian social media users who paid tribute to the dead officers. “Heartfelt prayers to those martyrs of El-Arish checkpoint, sending condolences to all the families of the martyrs killed today,” he wrote.
One of the terrorists was wearing an explosive belt. Security forces killed him before he could detonate the device.
Two other militants hijacked two tanks belonging to the Central Security Forces. A military plane destroyed one tank and security forces killed the other terrorist in a shootout.
Egypt has been battling North Sinai insurgents affiliated with Daesh for years.
Hundreds of police officers and soldiers have been killed in militant attacks, which surged after Islamist President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in 2013.
