Gunmen kill five Egyptian police south of Cairo

Gunmen ambushed an Egyptian security checkpoint on Friday opening fire on a car and killing five policemen in an area just south of the capital, Cairo the state-run MENA news agency and the Interior Ministry said.

Three gunmen on a motorbike attacked police in al-Badrasheen area of Giza province, 30 km (20 miles) south of Cairo, killing two officers and three conscripts, the agency said citing a security source.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Egyptian security forces have been battling the local affiliate of Islamic State in the northern Sinai area and attacks have spread to other parts of Egypt.

“Two (attackers) were wearing black uniforms, and one was wearing a beige T-shirt. They were waiting for the police car to arrive and they shot at its driver through the windshield. They used their guns to shoot those sitting in the back. They then poured fuel in the car and set fire to it,” an eyewitness said.

Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed since 2013 in the Sinai Peninsula.

At least 23 soldiers were killed last week when suicide car bombs hit two checkpoints in the region in an attack claimed by Islamic State. It was one of the bloodiest assaults on security forces in years.