Egyptian army kills child in Sinai

A child and another civilian were killed by Egyptian army shelling in the towns of Sheikh Zuwaid and Rafah in North Sinai on Friday.

Local witnesses said residents in Rafah ran from their homes in fear after the Egyptian army bombarded the town.

According to the Sinai Observatory for Human Rights, a child was killed and his sister seriously injured.

The military also raided villages south of the town of Sheikh Zuwaid, targeting residents with live ammunition and killing Nasser Mohammed Odeh, a 43-year old local civilian.

Egyptian authorities have been facing a growing Islamist insurgency in North Sinai since the ousting of former president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

The governorate has seen clashes between militants and the Egyptian armed forces, which have launched an intensified counter-insurgency crackdown.

Since Egypt launched its latest operation against armed groups in the Sinai, military figures claim to have killed hundreds of militants.

However, local sources dispute this, saying the number is closer to dozens.

In May last year, the Egyptian Observatory for Rights and Freedoms issued a report entitled Human Rights Violence in Sinai about the state of emergency imposed in the region.

It counted 681 extra-judicial executions of accused militants, 1,481 arbitrary arrests and the displacement of 21,392 people.

Egypt is currently on high security alert in the run up to the 25 January anniversary.