The death toll from an attack on a police checkpoint claimed by the so-called ’Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’ (ISIL) takfiri group in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has risen to 15

The death toll from an attack on a police checkpoint claimed by the so-called 'Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' (ISIL) takfiri group in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has risen to 15, the interior ministry said Sunday.

The ministry said a checkpoint near North Sinai's provincial capital of El-Arish was struck by mortar fire late on Saturday, but ISIL terrorist group said a suicide bomber blew up a car at the police post, which militants then raided.

Three officers and 12 policemen were killed in the attack, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday, updating an earlier death toll of 13.

The takfiri group also claimed responsibility for bombing a Russian airliner on October 31, killing all 224 people on board, minutes after it took off from a South Sinai beach resort.

Security officials said that five attackers were killed in clashes near the checkpoint after it was attacked on Saturday.