Four Egypt policemen killed in North Sinai attack

Authorities in the provincial capital were on the hunt for the attackers, said state newspaper Al Ahram

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Four Egyptian policemen were killed on Wednesday when gunmen fired at their patrol car in the North Sinai city of El Arish.

Authorities in the provincial capital were on the hunt for the attackers, said state newspaper Al Ahram.

Egyptian security officials said the attackers killed one police officer, a low-ranking policeman and two conscripts.

Attacks on security forces have been frequent in Egypt since the army, led by general-turned-president Abdel Fattah El Sisi, ousted former Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

The violence has been concentrated in the Sinai Peninsula, where Egypt is fighting an insurgency against an ISIL affiliate, but has also expanded to strike the country's Coptic Christians, Egypt's largest minority.

Read more: Seven civilians killed in blast in north Sinai

Wednesday's attack came a day after a group of gunmen killed two police officers and wounded another in a village north of Cairo, according to Al Ahram.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, a policeman was killed in a clash with suspected militants in the southern province of Qena, security sources said.

Police had raided mountainous areas in the province after receiving information that militants loyal to ISIL were hiding there, the sources said. Two gunmen were killed before the exchange of fire that killed the policeman.

The clash came days after a policeman and civilian were killed in another clash in the city of Esna, south of Luxor.

No group has claimed responsibility for either of the incidents.