HRW accuses Egypt forces, militants of Sinai 'war crimes'

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday accused both Egyptian security forces and jihadists of committing "war crimes" in their confrontation in the restive North Sinai region.

"While Egyptian military and police forces were responsible for the majority of abuses documented in the report, extremist militants have also committed horrific crimes," the New York-based group said in a 134-page report.

"Some of the abuses carried out by government forces and the militants, which this report documents, are war crimes, and their widespread and systematic nature could amount to crimes against humanity."

HRW compiled the report over two years interviewing more than 50 residents of the Sinai Peninsula, in northeast Egypt, where independent media coverage is effectively banned and a state of emergency has been in force since 2013.

In late 2017, North Sinai was the scene of the deadliest attack in Egypt's modern history when militants killed more than 300 worshippers at a mosque, without any group claiming .