Egyptian warplanes have killed five people in an airstrike in the Kawthar neighborhood of Sheikh Zuwayed city in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, Press TV reports.

The victims of the Friday airstrike were a mother and her four children.

Dozens of Sinai residents have lost their lives in crossfire and operations conducted by both the Egyptian army and militants seeking to target each other.

The Sinai Peninsula has been in a state of emergency since October 2014.

Ever since Egypt’s first democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in a military coup in July 2013, government officials have been regular targets for the terrorists in Sinai.

This has created a deadly challenge to Egypt’s authorities, who consider the Sinai Peninsula a safe haven and base for gunmen mostly belonging to an extremist group calling itself Valayat Sinai.

The group was formerly named Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, but changed its name after pledging allegiance to the Takfiri ISIL terrorist group last November. It has carried out numerous deadly attacks on the peninsula, killing police officers, soldiers and judiciary officials, as well as civilians.