Shooting near Step Pyramid in Cairo leaves four policemen dead

Masked gunmen open fire from motorcycle near Egypt’s famed historical site

Emergency personnel carry a body at the site where masked gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead four Egyptian policemen south of the capital Cairo. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Sat Nov 28 2015 - 13:27

A drive-by shooting near a famed historical site south of Cairo has left four policemen dead, Egyptian officials said on Saturday.

Major General Khaled Shalaby said masked gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a security checkpoint near Saqqara, home to the 4,600-year-old Step Pyramid.

Security forces cordoned off the area following the attack. It is not yet known who was behind the shooting.

Egypt has been confronting a growing insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula led by a local Islamic State affiliate, which has mainly targeted soldiers and police in Sinai but has also claimed attacks elsewhere in Egypt.