By Omar Azzam

CAIRO (AA): The death toll from an attack on a police checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula — responsibility for which has been claimed by a Daesh affiliate — has risen to 15, Egypt’s Interior Ministry announced Sunday.

In a statement, the ministry said three police officers and 12 soldiers had been killed in the attack, which occurred in the North Sinai city of Al-Arish.

The ministry had earlier said that 13 police personnel had been killed late Saturday when the checkpoint came under mortar fire.

The “Welayet Sinai” (“Province of Sinai”) group, which is said to be linked to the Daesh terrorist group, has since claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement shared on social media, the group said it had attacked the checkpoint with a suicide car bomb before spraying it with gunfire.

Turkish Foreign Ministry in a statement Sunday condemned the terrorist attack and offered condolences to the families of victims.

Since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi — Egypt’s first freely-elected president — in a 2013 military coup, the northern Sinai Peninsula has been the epicenter of a deadly insurgency against Egyptian security personnel.

In recent months, Welayet Sinai has claimed responsibility for a spate of deadly attacks on Egyptian security forces deployed in the volatile region.

[Photo: Last year attack in north Sinai, border with Gaza Strip on 1 July 2015. Photographer:Abed Rahim Khatib/AA]