Egypt says gunmen kill 8 policemen at desert checkpoint

CAIRO – The Egyptian Interior Ministry says gunmen have attacked a police checkpoint in the country’s desert west, killing eight policemen.

In a statement late Monday, the ministry says three other officers were wounded in the attack, which it blames on what it calls a band of terrorists.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which bore the hallmarks of Islamic militants.

The attack was in the remote Wadi al-Jadid province and came a week after eight other policemen were killed by Islamic State militants in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptian security forces have been battling IS-led militants in Sinai for years, but the insurgency has grown deadlier and more widespread over the last three years.