An Egyptian woman and child have been killed in a auto bomb, and four soldiers have died in a separate explosion, in the northern Sinai Peninsula, according to the Egyptian army.
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The Egyptian military said on Friday that a vehicle bomb in the volatile northern Sinai killed a woman and a child.
The army often reports large death tolls among the insurgents but they are impossible to verify and there has been little noticeable effect on IS’s ability to carry out deadly attacks on the security forces.
On Monday, the military launched a vast offensive against militants affiliated to the extremist Islamic State group, which has seized control of swathes of Iraq and Syria.
It says it has killed 296 militants since the start of the operation, including those killed on Saturday.
Last week, a bomb attack in the Sinai wounded six soldiers, including four Americans.
Egypt has witnessed a significant rise in militancy since the military-backed ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 following mass protests against his rule.
The additional troops will boost force protection for the roughly 650 service members deployed there now as part of the Multinational Force of Observers, a little-known peacekeeping force that helps maintain a 1979 treaty between Egypt and Israel. The militants say they are avenging a government crackdown on his supporters.
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Velayat Sinai terrorists have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in Sinai Peninsula.
