Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula
Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai PeninsulaAFP photo

Islamist terrorists in the Sinai Peninsula have claimed the killing of three Egyptian policemen.

One of Monday's attacks targeted a police station in El Arish in North Sinai, killing two policemen as they sat eating breakfast outside. A third police officer was also gunned down, as he walked along a street in the city.

A video of one of the shootings was published alongside a claim by the terrorists that one of the three killed was ranked as a colonel.

The Sinai has become a hotbed of terrorist activity since the overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi by General Abdel Fattah el Sisi in July. Since then the army has been cracking down on Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, trying to undo its grip on some parts of the country.

A torrent of attacks by gangs of Al Qaeda-inspired Islamic terrorists have killed over 100 Egyptian soldiers and policemen since Morsi's overthrow. On Sunday, another Egyptian soldier was gunned down by a sniper at a checkpoint in the town of Qusayma.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim told the al-Youm al-Sabi'i newspaper that security forces in the Sinai had been hunting down terrorist training camps and arms caches.

"These operations were successful in capturing great amounts of weapons, as well as communication and vision technology," he said.

Ibrahim himself survived an assassination attempt on 5 September.