{"id":644799,"date":"2019-06-05T10:52:16","date_gmt":"2019-06-05T10:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"
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Militants killed eight Egyptian policemen on Wednesday at a checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula, centre of a long-running jihadist insurgency, the interior ministry said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTerrorist elements targeted a checkpoint west of El-Arish early this morning\u2026 The exchange of fire killed fire terrorist elements and eight police were martyred,\u201d a ministry statement said.<\/p>\n

Some militants escaped and security forces are following \u201ctheir movements\u201d, the ministry added.<\/p>\n

A security source said reinforcements had been dispatched to the checkpoint near El-Arish, capital of North Sinai province.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe checkpoint is currently surrounded by the army and police,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A medical source said three members of the Central Security Force, a paramilitary force under the control of the interior ministry, were also wounded in the attack and taken to El-Arish public hospital.<\/p>\n

Egyptian state television said there were fears the death toll could rise as there were reports of attacks on multiple checkpoints.<\/p>\n

The attack came at the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.<\/p>\n

No group has claimed responsibility so far.<\/p>\n

Egypt has for years been battling insurgents in the North Sinai affiliated with the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of police officers and soldiers have been killed in militant attacks which intensified after the army\u2019s ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.<\/p>\n

In February 2018, the army launched a nationwide offensive against the militants focused mainly on the North Sinai.<\/p>\n

According to official figures, around 650 militants have been killed since the start of the operation, while the army has lost some 50 soldiers.<\/p>\n

No independent statistics are available and the region is largely cut off to journalists making verification of casualty figures extremely difficult.<\/p>\n

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