Mortar shell kills four civilians in Sinai

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EL-ARISH, Egypt: Egyptian security officials say four civilians have been killed when a mortar shell hit their tractor in the turbulent northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
The officials say a fifth civilian was wounded in Tuesday’s attack in El-Arish, Sinai’s largest city on the Mediterranean coast.
Mortar shells fired by militants frequently kill or wound civilians in El-Arish.
Egypt has been battling militants in Sinai for years in an insurgency that intensified after the military’s 2013 ouster of Mohammed Mursi.
The insurgency is led by a local affiliate of the extremist Daesh.
Egypt is also facing a growing number of attacks by militants in its Western Desert.