Islamic State group claims attack on police in Egypt’s Sinai

CAIRO – The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for killing four Egyptian policemen in restive northern Sinai peninsula.

The group said in a Thursday statement carried by its news agency Aamaq and circulated on social media that its militants carried out the attack on Wednesday in the town of el-Arish.

The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the authenticity of the statement.

The state-run newspaper Al-Ahram said on Wednesday that authorities were hunting the militants who opened fire on the policemen as they were riding in a private car.

Egypt in recent years has been battling a stepped-up insurgency in northern Sinai, mainly by militants from an Islamic State affiliate. The campaign accelerated after the military ousted elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.