title: Egypt air base attack kills officer in North Sinai: military statement
text: CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian military officer was killed and two other people were wounded in a shell attack on a military airport near the town of Arish in the North Sinai region on Tuesday, the army spokesman said in a statement on Facebook. It said the attack took place during a visit of Egypt s interior and defense ministers to the area. A security source said neither minister had been hurt during the attack.  Those wounded were an officer and a soldier, a second security source said. The statement also said a helicopter had been damaged during the attack, and that security forces had  dealt with the source of fire , without elaborating. The Egyptian military is battling a years-long Islamist insurgency in North Sinai that has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen. Attacks claimed by Islamic State s Sinai branch have expanded to include civilian targets in the past year. The group is widely believed to have carried out an attack on a mosque last month, the deadliest in Egypt s modern history, which killed more than 300 people according to state media. However Islamic State did not claim that attack. 