World Bulletin / News Desk

Gunmen killed a top Egyptian army officer outside his home Friday in the northern Sinai where the local affiliate of the ISIL group is leading an insurrection, the army spokesman said.

"Three extremist elements fired on Brigadier General Hisham Mohammed Mahmud, one of the heroes of the armed forces, outside his home in El-Arish after prayers, resulting in his martyrdom," the spokesman said on Facebook.

Egypt's government says hundreds of police and soldiers have died in the attacks, which have also hit Cairo and the Nile Delta.

Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Egyptian ISIL affiliate, which also said it bombed a Russian plane over Sinai in October 2015 killing all 224 people on board, most of them Russian tourists.