Three policemen killed in northern Egypt

Gunmen killed three Egyptian policemen in an attack on a checkpoint in northern Egypt, the Interior Ministry reported on Monday.

The three officers were shot in the head and chest by four masked gunmen in Mansoura, 120 km north of Cairo.

Attacks targeting security forces have increased in the Suez Canal area and the restive Sinai Peninsula since the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsy on July 3.

The attack in Mansoura indicates that militants are advancing towards the centre of the country.

The Government blames Mr. Morsy’s loyalists and Islamist militants in Sinai for the violence.

Mr. Morsy’s Muslim Brotherhood has condemned the attacks, but called on its supporters to protest across Egypt against the military-backed Government.