Dozens Dead after Islamist Assaults in Egypt

Attacks in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula by Islamist militants have left more than 20 people dead.

Reuters reports that a bomb blast at a military base in the city of Al-Arish left 25 people dead. The blast was so strong that the officers of a local newspaper across the street from the explosion was also totally destroyed.

An assault on a checkpoint near the Rafah border crossing that connects Egypt to the Gaza Strip claimed the life of an Egyptian Army major. Six other soldiers were injured in the attack.

The Sinai Peninsula where the attacks took place are no stranger to Islamist violence. That violence has been on the upswing since the democratically elected Mohammed Morsi was overthrown by a military coup that saw Abdel Fattah el Sisi rise to power.

Although Islamist violence in the Sinai is not new, The New York Times reports that the level of coordination in the attacks is unprecedented. For example, just as the bomb in Al-Arish exploded, mortars rained down on police checkpoints throughout the city. Mortars were also fired at the base where the bomb exploded. At least 36 people were injured.

The month of January has seen violence throughout the entirety of Egypt as people defy bans on protest and public expression to commemorate the overthrow of dictator Hosni Mubarak, who ruled the country for roughly 30 years until he was toppled in the Arab Spring protests of 2011.

Security forces have killed at least 25 people trying to commemorate their failed revolution. One image of a mortally wounded protester collapsing into the arms of her comrade as the soldier who murdered her stares on blankly, went viral and kept the struggle of the Egyptian people alive around the world. The victim in that photo was 32-year-old Shaimaa Sabbagh.