EL-ARISH, Egypt -- Dozens of Islamic militants coordinated simultaneous attacks on Egyptian army checkpoints in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula on Wednesday, killing at least 64 soldiers, officials said.
The assault happened a day after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi pledged to step up his government's battle against Islamic militants and two days after the country's chief prosecutor was assassinated in the capital, Cairo.
Officials said 90 militants were killed in fierce fighting that started in the early morning and raged until the end of the day -- the deadliest battle in Sinai since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief the media.
In a statement broadcast on state television, Egypt's military said 17 soldiers had been killed in the fighting, with 13 wounded, while at least 100 "terrorist supporters" had been killed. The conflict in the death toll reported by the security officials and that reported by the government could not immediately be reconciled.
Later Wednesday, a special forces team killed nine members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, including a former member of parliament, in a raid on an apartment in Cairo's Sixth of October district, security officials said.
The team was fired upon when it entered the home and returned fire, but no security forces were wounded, the officials said.
One of the dead was Nasr al-Hafi, a former deputy in the lower house of parliament for the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice party. Another was a Brotherhood leader, Abdel-Fattah Mohamed Ibrahim.
The Brotherhood said later that its leaders were murdered "in cold blood" and called for a rebellion against el-Sissi, whom it called a "butcher."
Egyptian officials and pro-government media have blamed recent attacks on ousted President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which is officially branded a terrorist group.
The Brotherhood has denied involvement in the attacks, many of which have been claimed by other groups, including the Sinai-based militants who claimed responsibility for Wednesday's coordinated assault.
The militants have battled Egyptian security forces in northern Sinai for more than a decade but have intensified their insurgency since the 2013 military overthrow of Morsi. Last year, the main insurgent organization operating in Sinai pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
Last week, Islamic State spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani issued an audio statement calling for large-scale attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, now entering its third week.
The Islamic State affiliate in Egypt said its fighters targeted 15 army and police positions and staged three suicide bombings Wednesday, two that targeted checkpoints and one that hit an officers club. The claim of responsibility could not be immediately verified, but it was posted on a Facebook page associated with the group.
"This specific attack is by far the worst we've ever seen," said Daniel Nisman, chief executive officer for the Levantine Group risk consultancy. "It's not a hit and run -- this is what they used in places like Syria and Iraq to actually capture and hold territory."
He said the attack revealed the weaknesses of the military's "scorched earth" operations against militants in the northern Sinai, which he said have made it difficult for an army that is "very, very overstretched" to recruit local support.
The assault focused on the town of Sheikh Zuweid and targeted at least six military checkpoints, the officials said. The militants also took soldiers captive and seized weapons and several armored vehicles, they added, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
The officials said scores of militants were besieging Sheikh Zuweid's main police station, shelling it with mortar fire and rocket-propelled grenades and exchanging fire with dozens of policemen inside.
At least 55 soldiers were wounded, the officials said. As fighting raged, an army Apache gunship destroyed one of the armored carriers captured by the militants as they were driving away, the officials said.
An earlier statement by military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir said about 70 militants had attacked five checkpoints in northern Sinai. Later he said the country's armed forces targeted two militant gatherings in northern Sinai, completely destroying them.
Two of the checkpoints attacked Wednesday were completely destroyed, the officials said. Army checkpoints in the area are routinely run by 50-60 soldiers. The Islamic State affiliate's statement said the two checkpoints were hit by suicide bombers.
Wednesday's attacks came in swift response to el-Sissi's pledge the previous day to bring to justice those behind the assassination of Egypt's prosecutor-general the day before.
Speaking on Tuesday at the funeral of Hisham Barakat, who oversaw scores of cases against thousands of Islamists, el-Sissi signaled an even tougher campaign against Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood and the possible execution of Morsi and other Brotherhood leaders who have received death sentences in recent months.
Since Morsi's ouster, which was led by el-Sissi, Egypt has arrested thousands of Islamists and other dissidents, convicting hundreds in collective trials and issuing mass death sentences. Morsi is among those condemned to die, but he has a potentially lengthy appeals process ahead of him.
"The judiciary is restricted by laws, and swift justice is also restricted by laws. We will not wait for that," el-Sissi said Tuesday.
Action will be taken within days "to enable us to execute the law, and bring justice as soon as possible," he added. "We will stand in the face of the whole world, and fight the whole world."
Information for this article was contributed by Hamza Hendawi, Merrit Kennedy and Ian Deitch of The Associated Press.
A Section on 07/02/2015