IS Militants Claim Missile Attack On Egyptian Navy Vessel

IS militants in Sinai claim that they have carried out a missile attack on an Egyptian naval vessel in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday.

The militants said that they destroyed the naval ship with a guided missile. They also have posted three pictures on twitter of what appeared like a missile followed by an another picture with an explosion on the ship.

Egyptian officials said a coastguard vessel caught fire after a fire-fight with militants on the shore.Other navy boats rescued the crew as their vessel emitted a plume of smoke, said an AFP photographer across the border in the Gaza Strip.

They boarded the vessel, which stayed afloat, to extinguish the flames, he added.

BBC pointed out in a report on Thurday that there is a wide difference between the two versions reporting the maritime attack off the north coast of Sinai.

IS militants claim they fired a shore-to-ship missile at the craft and support this with photos on social media showing a massive fireball which would have killed many crew and possibly destroyed the whole ship, whereas Egypt officially denies there were any casualties, saying there was a fire-fight during which a coastguard boat was set on fire.