Six people were killed in fighting between an armed group and security forces in the north of Egypt's Sinai region, security sources and the state news agency MENA said today.
About 100 armed men rode through the town of el-Arish in cars and on motorcycles, waving flags with Islamic slogans and firing in the air, Sinai security sources said.
They attacked a police station and engaged in a shootout with policemen and soldiers, the sources said. An army officer and three civilian bystanders were shot dead. A policeman and a Palestinian suspect were reported to have died later from injuries suffered in the battle.
Witnesses said the attackers, many of whom wore masks, did not seem to be from the area as they lost their way several times before reaching the police station.
There was no word on the identity of the armed group, but MENA quoted the head of security in north Sinai as saying Egyptians and Palestinians were among 12 suspects arrested and under investigation.
The Gaza Strip, ruled by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, borders Sinai to the north.
A statement from the health ministry identified the three civilian dead as a 13-year-old boy and two men (aged 18 and 70).
Four army officers, nine security guards, two policemen and six civilians were wounded in the attack, MENA and a security source said.
Reuters