MINYA, May 19 (Aswat Masriya) Gunmen shot dead two policemen in Minya, south of Cairo, on Monday, an Interior Ministry statement said.

Unknown assailants cut off the Minya/Assuit road on Ahmed Farouk and Mohamed Ali and fired gunshots at them.

The security forces intensified their presence in the area to track down the criminals and capture them.

Armed attacks against the army and police have risen sharply since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi last year.