Suspected militants kill 3 policemen in Egypt

CAIRO – Egypt's Interior Ministry says suspected militants have killed three policemen and seriously wounded two in an attack in the Sinai Peninsula.

The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the attack took place late Wednesday night in the volatile northern part of Sinai.

That part of the mostly desert peninsula has been mired in lawlessness and violence since the 2011 ouster of autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Attacks on security forces dramatically increased since the overthrow on July 3 of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Critics of the former leader see this as evidence of his suspected links to militants in the peninsula.

The area, which borders Gaza and Israel, was the scene last August of an attack that killed 16 Egyptian soldiers. Militants were also blamed for that attack.