Egyptian policeman killed in North Sinai shooting - state agency

Sunday 28-02-2016 07:29 PM

An Egyptian soldier keeps guard during a military operation in the Egyptian city of Rafah, near the border with the southern Gaza Strip October 30, 2014. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

CAIRO, Feb 28 (Aswat Masriya) - A policeman was killed in North Sinai's al-Arish city in a shooting during the early hours of Sunday, state news agency MENA said citing an official in the interior ministry. 

Unidentified masked men fired at the policeman outside his house, the official said. 

Aswat Masriya could not independently verify the content of this statement. Anti-terrorism legislation imposes heavy fines on news organisations that contradict official statements.

The deadly attack comes one day after two conscripts were killed and two others injured in a roadside bomb explosion in North Sinai's Rafah city, security sources within North Sinai security directorate told Aswat Masriya.

Militancy inside Egypt has seen a significant rise since the military ouster of president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in July 2013 after mass protests against his rule. Most attacks occur in North Sinai, targeting security forces.

According to separate statements by the armed forces over the past year alone, hundreds of suspected militants have been killed and hundreds more arrested in multiple security campaigns launched by the army.

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