Five policemen were killed in a militant attack in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula late Wednesday, the country’s Interior Ministry said.
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Three conscripts were also also wounded when gunmen opened fire at the checkpoint in the town of El-Arish.
“As the explosive expert was working on one of these explosives to secure the apartment, a booby trap blew up”, killing three police officers and a citizen passing by, the ministry said.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.
The scene of the attack had been cordoned off by the security forces, combing the area in the search of the perpetrators.
Egypt has been hit with a wave of suicide bombings and militants’ attacks that only intensified after the military’s ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.
The Sinai Province is spearheading an insurgency against security forces in the region, and has carried out deadly attacks in North Sinai as well as in other cities including Cairo.
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“In a statement circulated on Twitter, the Welayet Sinai” (Province of Sinai) group said its members had also seized an armored vehicle during the attack.
