Gunmen Kill Five Egyptian Police

KABUL: (MEP) Unidentified attackers have reportedly killed at least five Egyptian officers in the country’s Sinai Peninsula.

The interior ministry said Thursday that the attack occurred after a number of assailants opened fire on security forces at El-Etlawi square in the center of El-Arish in North of Sinai over Wednesday night.

“A gun battle ensued after the attack in which the five policemen were killed and three conscripts were wounded,” a statement by the ministry said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the assault where security forces are battling Takfiri militants linked to ISIL group (so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Levant).

The statement said the security services have sealed off the area and conduct search operations in the area to find the attackers and seize their weapons.

The region is a bastion of the ISIL-affiliated Takfiri group Sinai Province.

The assailants were reportedly using a stolen security vehicle.