Egypt parents, 3 children killed in Sinai shelling

A couple and their three children, including a five-year-old girl, were killed Thursday when shelling hit their house in North Sinai, where Egypt's army is fighting jihadists, state news agency MENA reported.

A teenager was also wounded in the attack, in the town of Rafah, which borders the Gaza Strip, the agency said.

It was unclear who fired the projectile, as both the army and militants carry out shelling in the area.

North Sinai is a bastion of the "Sinai Province" group, the Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State group.

Jihadists have regularly attacked Egyptian security forces in the peninsula as an Islamist insurgency swelled in the region after the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

They say their attacks are in response to a crackdown by the authorities targeting Morsi's supporters, which has seen hundreds killed and thousands jailed.

They also claimed to have downed the Russian airliner that crashed in the Sinai on October 31, killing all 224 people on board, after smuggling a bomb on board.