A total of six, including three policemen and three alleged Islamists, were killed during armed confrontations in North Sinai and Damietta provinces of Egypt.A traffic police officer was shot dead outside a preparatory school in North Sinai's Arish city, security sources and medics told Xinhua on Saturday
The Egyptian interior ministry said that the second victim was a retired policeman who was shot in the head after exchanging fire with militants.It added that the perpetrators drove a private vehicle and launched the two attacks separately.In another incident, the ministry said that a policeman and three loyalists of the currently-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group died during a fire exchange in Damietta.
The forces arrested 18 others, and secured guns and Molotov cocktails from their possession, according to the ministry.Terrorist activities mounted in Egypt after the removal of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by military in July 2013.Mass protests had taken place after his one-year reign.
A massive security crackdown on pro-Morsi sit-ins in August 2013 left about 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.Since then, anti-government militant attacks against police and military have been growing in the restive Sinai Peninsula and extended to reach the capital Cairo and various provinces nation-wide.In late 2014, Muslim Brotherhood, the group Morsi belongs to, was designated by the new leadership as "a terrorist organisation" after a series of blasts targeted security personnel, although the group denied connection to them.