CEOAFRICA learnt that about three Egyptian policemen have been shot dead in an attack on a checkpoint in the Nile Delta city of Mansoura on Monday.

According to a source, the ambush was carried out by three men in a car and one on a motorcycle, although no group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

 Police are now conducting search operations at the scene of the attack, but no arrests have been made so far.

Police are often targeted - one of the deadliest attacks against them took place in August, when at least 24 were killed by suspected Islamist militants in the lawless Sinai Peninsula.

Hundreds of Islamist supporters of Mr Morsi have also been killed by security forces since Mr Morsi was deposed, 13 months after he was elected as president.

The interim government installed by the army however accuses pro-Morsi Islamist groups of being behind many of the attacks.