At least 25 Army soldiers and one police official were killed in synchronized attacks in Sinai, Egypt on Thursday when militants bombed a car and fired multiple mortar rounds.

One car bomb was set off outside the military base where the Army soldiers were, while continuous mortar rounds were fired at buildings, damaging them, thereby causing more deaths from falling debris.

Like Us on Facebook

Attacks were also launched on a police station, numerous checkpoints and a hotel. The apparently coordinated attacks struck the towns of Sheik Zuwayid, Rafah, and the northern Sinai capital of el-Arish.

The attacks are being blamed on Mohammed Morsi, the former president of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Hours before the deadly encounter, the official Twitter account of the ISIS affiliate in Egypt posted a photo of masked militants dressed in black and bearing the ISIS black flag and rocket-propelled grenades. The ISIS took credit for the attack via a Twitter announcement.

The ISIS affiliate in Egypt, known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, has been mounting attacks against army and police forces for years. The group was initially allied with al-Qaeda but pledged loyalty to ISIS last year.

Apart from the 26 security forces that were killed, 60 others were wounded. Medical officials said they are expecting a rise in death toll from the attack, which also caused a blackout all over el-Arish.

TagsSinai Attack, Egypt, ISIS, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, President el-Sissi