Militants kill 5 policemen in Egypt's Sinai

Egyptian security officials say suspected Islamic militants have attacked police in the northern Sinai Peninsula, killing five of them and wounding another five.

Men carry the coffin of a soldier, who was killed a day earlier in the restive Sinai Peninsula, during a funeral ceremony in the 10th of Ramadan city, about 60 kms north of Cairo, on Saturday. | AP

EL-ARISH: Egyptian security officials say suspected Islamic militants have attacked police in the northern Sinai Peninsula, killing five of them and wounding another five.

They say the militants opened fire on an armored vehicle before setting it ablaze in the city of el-Arish on Monday. When reinforcements arrived, the militants set off a roadside bomb. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

Egypt has been struggling to combat an insurgency in the northern Sinai that has gathered strength since the military overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013. Most of the attacks, including an assault on an army post earlier this month that killed 23 soldiers, have been claimed by an Islamic State affiliate.