2 Egyptians shot dead in Sinai drive-by shooting

Two Egyptian civilians were killed when unknown gunmen opened fire at a car of a police officer in Al- Arish, the local capital of Egypt's restive North Sinai province, the official news agency MENA reported Saturday.
MENA said the slain men were with the police officer when the gunmen opened fire at his car, adding the policeman escaped the attack unscathed.
Also in Sinai, unknown gunmen and security forces exchanged fire when the gunmen riding two vehicles opened fire at a police checkpoint near Al-Arish.
MENA said police brought situation under control and no casualties have been reported.
No group has claimed responsibility for the two attacks.
Since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi by the army last July over mass protests, a wave of explosions targeted policemen and troops in the restive Sinai Peninsula, and lately some attacks have targeted Cairo and Nile Delta cities.
A recent official report said the death toll from such attacks reached nearly 500 people, most of them soldiers and policemen.
The army has launched a large-scale operation since Morsi's removal to uproot the crime hideouts in the restive Sinai. The al- Qaida-inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.