.Alwaght-According to Reuters, two attacks in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killed 33 security personnel on Friday security sources said, in some of the worst anti-state violence since Islamist President Mohamed Mursi was overthrown last year.
The violence prompted Egypt to declare a three-month state of emergency in parts of North Sinai, where the violence took place, the state news agency reported.
Thirty people were killed in the first attack in the al-Kharouba area northwest of al-Arish, near the Gaza Strip, the sources said. Military helicopters transferred the dead and wounded to Cairo. Among them were several senior officers from the Second Field Army based in Ismailia, security sources said.
The car bomb attack targeted two armored vehicles at a checkpoint near an army installation, the sources said. They said the big explosion and high death toll were likely due to the vehicles being loaded with ammunition and heavy weapons.
Security officials gave conflicting accounts of the first attack, with one Sinai-based official saying a rocket-propelled grenade was used. More than 25 people were wounded.
Hours later, gunmen opened fire on a checkpoint in al-Arish, killing three members of the security forces, officials said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack. Similar previous operations have been claimed by Egypt's most active militant group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis.
