Three children, woman killed in Egypt's Sinai

 Three children and a woman were killed on Saturday in a blast and when a shell struck a house in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula where troops are battling Islamic State group jihadists, officials said.

Cairo: Three children and a woman were killed on Saturday in a blast and when a shell struck a house in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula where troops are battling Islamic State group jihadists, officials said.

Two children and a woman were killed when a shell slammed into a house in the North Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, scene of deadly fighting earlier this week between jihadists and security forces, medical and security officials said.

It was not immediately clear which side fired the shell which also seriously wounded a woman and a teenage girl.

In a separate incident, a roadside bomb targeting police and army vehicles killed a five-year-old child in the town of Rafah that borders the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

Three other children and a woman were also wounded in the blast.

The government called in air strikes on Wednesday after a spectacular IS attack in Sheikh Zuweid left dozens dead.

The army said 17 soldiers and 100 militants had been killed. But medical and security officials said the death toll was at least 70 people -- mostly soldiers -- as well as dozens of jihadists.

The violence poses a major test for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who has pledged to eliminate the militants.

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