Masked gunmen killed five Egyptian policemen in a motorcycle attack on a security checkpoint south of Cairo on Thursday morning, the Interior Ministry said.
The attack in the province of Beni Suef, 100 km south of capital Cairo, was executed by two anonymous men who were riding motorcycles, according to a ministry statement, Reuters reported.
"They opened fire heavily on the forces at the checkpoint," the statement said, according to Reuters. Two policemen were also wounded in the attack.
Since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, bombings and violence attacks targeting state security forces in Egypt have become increasingly common.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for Thursday's attack.
The Egyptian government has declared itself to be in a war on terror against Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood - the Islamist group was determined as a "terrorist group" on December 25, according to Reuters. The Brotherhood has said it remains committed to peaceful activism.
