Four killed in Islamic State attack on Sinai hotel

CAIRO, Nov. 24 (UPI) — Four people died and 12 were injured Tuesday when suicide bombers attacked a hotel in al-Arish in Egypt’s northern Sinai.

The Swiss Inn Hotel housed a group of electoral judges monitoring voting in Egypt’s parliamentary elections Monday.

A judge, two police officers and a bystander died, as did all three attackers. One died as his bomb-laden vehicle exploded at the hotel entrance, a second blew himself up in the hotel’s kitchen and third was killed as he reached a hotel room and “opened fire randomly,” an Egyptian military statement said.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assault.

The Sinai Peninsula is home to a number of Islamist groups intent on undermining the Egyptian government, and attacks have intensified since former President Mohamed Morsi was driven from power in 2013. IS, which also claimed responsibility for the crash of a Russian passenger plane that killed 224 people October in Sinai, has a strong presence on the peninsula.