An Egyptian policeman was shot dead by unknown militants on Thursday in Arish city of North Sinai province bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip, official MENA news agency reported. The assailants gunned down the 38-year-old non-commissioned police officer and managed to run away. The police are currently combing the area in search for the perpetrators. Anti-government terror attacks in Egypt have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the mid-2013 military removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in response to mass protests against his one-year rule. Most of the terrorist attacks nationwide, particularly those in Sinai, have been claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militia. To further pressure the government, the IS started to expand terror operations to target the Coptic Christian minority in capital Cairo and other provinces nationwide. In April, IS-claimed bombings at two churches in northern provinces of Gharbiya and Alexandria killed at least 47 and wounded over 120. A similar suicide bombing at a Cairo church in December 2016 killed at least 28 worshippers. Meanwhile, security campaigns in Sinai have killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects over the past few years as part of the country's anti-terror war declared by former army chief and current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi following Morsi's overthrow.
