Attacks in Egypt leave at least 12 dead

At least 12 people were killed Sunday, and more injured, in separate attacks on a police station, a checkpoint and along a highway in Egypt's northern Sinai, authorities said.

Six people, including one civilian, were killed when a car bomb exploded near the police station in Al-Arish, capital of North Sinai, Health Ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel-Ghafar told Ahram Online. He said 40 people were injured.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, an ISIS affiliate, claimed responsibility for the attack, which came hours after another operation that the group also claimed.

In that earlier attack, a first lieutenant, a sergeant and four conscripts were killed when their armored vehicle was attacked on the highway from Al-Arish to Sheikh Zuweid in northern Sinai, the military said. Two other soldiers were injured and taken to a military hospital.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has claimed many attacks against the army and police in Sinai.

A third attack Sunday on a checkpoint in Rafah left three security personnel injured, after unknown assailants opened fire at them, according to state media.

The attacks come as the military announced a reshuffle of several senior military positions, state media reported.

Among those being replaced are the generals in charge of military intelligence and Egypt's second field army, which is spearheading the battle against the insurgents in the northern Sinai.

Egypt's army has been fighting a decade-long militant Islamist insurgency, which has spiked since the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsy in the summer of 2013.

Hundreds of police and soldiers, as well as civilians, have been killed in militant attacks in the past months.