Eight Egyptian police officers have been shot and killed in an assault claimed by Islamic State militants, in the biggest attack Cairo has seen in months.
The officers were dressed in civilian clothes when their police van was attacked in the south Cairo suburb of Helwan on Sunday.
Egypt's Interior Ministry said on their Facebook page that four gunmen stopped a police van on patrol. The assailants then sprayed the van with automatic weapons, before driving off in a pick-up truck.
The Ministry said seven of those killed were officers, and one was a lieutenant.
Local media reported eyewitnesses said the gunners were masked, and the truck was emblazoned with an Islamic State slogan.
An Islamic State affiliated faction known as Sinai Province has claimed responsibility for the attack. They said it was retribution for the imprisonment of "virtuous and immaculate" Islamic women held in Egyptian jails.
This comes after Islamic State claimed responsibility for killing seven people and injuring 15 in two separate attacks on the Sinai Peninsula last week.
Explosive devices were remotely detonated as vehicles passed, killing five Egyptian soldiers, one military officer and a civilian woman.
Sinai Province declared allegiance with Islamic State in November 2014. They also claimed responsibility for the October 2015 attack on a Russian Metrojet aeroplane. All 224 people on board were killed in the attack.
Hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police have been killed by Islamic State insurgents in North Sinai since President Mohamed Morsi was ousted in mid-2013.
Most of the deadly attacks have occurred in Sinai, but Cairo and other cities have also been targeted.
Newshub.
