Two policemen killed in attacks in Egypt’s Sinai

Cairo: Two Egyptian policemen were killed in separate attacks in North Sinai province on Tuesday, security sources said.

Unknown gunmen fired shots at a policeman in North Sinai’s capital city of Arish before fleeing, a source said, adding the policeman’s body had been transferred to a military hospital.

The other policeman was killed in a similar attack in the same city, another security source said.

Attacks on Egyptian security forces have been common since the military led by general-turned-President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi ousted Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammad Mursi in 2013 following popular protests against his government.

The attacks have mostly been concentrated in the Sinai Peninsula where Egypt is fighting an insurgency, but in recent months they have expanded to target Coptic Christians, Egypt’s largest minority.