Militants Kill Five Egyptian Cops in Sinai

Local Editor

The Egyptian interior ministry reported Thursday that unknown assailants shot dead five Egyptian policemen in an attack on a security checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula.

However, no immediate claim of responsibility for the Wednesday night assault in North Sinai was marked, although security forces in the area are battling extremists linked to "ISIS."

Relatively, the ministry said in a statement that: "Unidentified gunmen opened fire on security forces at el-Etlawi square in the center of el-Arish," referring to the North Sinai provincial capital.

A gun battle ensued in which the five policemen were killed and three conscripts were wounded, the statement added, noting that security forces were searching for the attackers.

However, the region is a bastion of the "ISIS"-affiliated extremist group Sinai Province.

Its militants are waging an insurgency against security forces in North Sinai, and have regularly carried out deadly attacks on policemen and soldiers.

The latest attack came just days before the fifth anniversary of the January 25, 2011 uprising that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak.

Insurgency in North Sinai swelled after the army ousted President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team