Two Egypt officers killed in militants shootout

At least two Egyptian army officers have been killed in clashes with militants in north of the capital, Cairo, officials say.

The officers were shot dead by militants during a police raid on their hideout near the Nile Delta town al-Qanatir al-Khayriya on Wednesday.

Some 200 policemen and soldiers have been killed by militants in bombings and shootings since the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

On March 15, armed assailants shot dead six soldiers at a military checkpoint in Cairo’s northern neighborhood of Shubra al-Kheima.

The Egyptian military has pointed the finger of blame at Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters of Morsi.

Egyptian authorities say the Muslim Brotherhood has been behind a series of bomb attacks on police and other targets after Morsi’s ouster in July 2013, but they have provided little evidence to support their claims. The Brotherhood has also denied the attacks.

Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since the country’s first democratically-elected president ousted last July. Hundreds have lost their lives in the ensuing violence across the North African country.

Human rights groups say as many as 1,400 people have been killed in the political violence that erupted last July.

Since Morsi’s removal, militants have stepped up deadly attacks against the Egyptian security personnel, killing many soldiers and police officers. Most of such assaults have taken place in the restive Sinai Peninsula.