Gunmen in Egypt kill informer, soldier at checkpoint north of Cairo

Gunmen killed an informer and a soldier and injured five other people, including two civilians, in an attack at a police checkpoint in the province of Menoufia north of Cairo, the director of the ambulance services said on Sunday.

Security forces are searching for the men in that area, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Cairo, one security source said.

Egypt's government is facing an insurgency that has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen, mostly in northern Sinai, since mid-2013, when then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

Islamic State's Egyptian affiliate, which calls itself Sinai Province, mainly operates out of the northern Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel, the Gaza Strip and the Suez Canal.

Militants have also targeted security forces in central Cairo, its outskirts and elsewhere in the past few years.