Three Egyptian policemen killed by 'unidentified gunmen' in Cairo

An Egyptian police convoy was attacked by unidentified gunmen in Cairo, killing three policemen and injuring five others, according to a statement from the Egyptian interior ministry on Tuesday.

“Armed elements riding in two vehicles approached a moving security convoy” around 11:45pm on Monday, the ministry said in a statement.

The police convoy was crossing a roundabout that intersects with the main ring road surrounding the capital when it was attacked.

Police fired back at the attackers’ vehicles, which police were pursuing “in an effort to apprehend the perpetrators,” the ministry said.

While no one claimed responsibility for the attack, Egypt has been fighting an insurgency by a local affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group in North Sinai province.

Terrorism has increased since current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power through a blooded coup in the summer of 2013.

He had vowed to “deter terrorism” in Egypt, but his counter-terrorism policies have been proven unsuccessful and counterproductive.

He has made residents in the Sinai Peninsula, comprised of mainly Bedouins, more vulnerable to being recruited by terrorist organisations in the region, where IS have an established presence.

To deter IS attacks, the Egyptian military has carried out forced displacements of Sinai residents and has cut them off from the rest of Egypt economically, socially and institutionally.