Egypt to try 20 suspected in terrorist attacks

CAIRO - Egypt's chief prosecutor charged 20 suspected militants Saturday, July 26, with carrying terrorist attacks that killed seven people and wounded more than 100, amid new clashes between soldiers and insurgents in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

The statement released by Hisham Barakat's office said those charged belonged to a terror group called Ajnad Misr, which started its attacks after the July ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The group's name means "Soldiers of Egypt" in Arabic.

The statement said the suspected militants planted explosives around police stations and security checkpoints. It said 14 suspected members are in custody and six others are on the run.

Ajnad Misr has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks since November, including bomb blasts that took place outside a presidential palace.

Meanwhile Saturday, soldiers killed 12 suspected militants and arrested 11 others in the northern Sinai, according to a statement on the official Facebook page of military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir. An insurgent-fired rocket struck a house in the town of Sheikh Zuwayed, killing three civilians and wounding nine, security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

Assaults mainly targeting security forces have spiked in the restive Sinai Peninsula and elsewhere since Morsi's ouster. The government designated Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, blaming them and their Islamist allies of orchestrating the violence to destabilize the country. The Brotherhood has denied using violence.

The military has responded with a wide-scale offensive to quash the insurgency.