Gunmen kill 8 policemen in southwest Egypt

CAIRO, Egypt — Gunmen killed eight police officers late Monday in an attack on a checkpoint in el-Wadi el-Gedid province in southwest Egypt, the interior ministry said.

Two of the attackers were killed when security forces fought back, and three other security personnel were injured, the ministry said in a statement.

The attack took place on al-Naqab checkpoint, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from el-Kharga city, the capital of the province, the ministry said.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of Islamic militants.

The attack was in the remote Wadi al-Jadid province and came a week after eight other policemen were killed by jihadist militants in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

Jihadists have killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen since the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, which was followed by a bloody crackdown on his supporters.

Most of the attacks have taken place in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip. Attacks have occurred in other parts of the country, including Cairo.

The Islamic State terror group said on January 10 it was behind a car bomb assault on a police checkpoint in the Sinai that killed eight people a day earlier.

IS also claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed 28 Christian Copts at a church service in Cairo on December 11.