Gunmen kill five police conscripts in Egypt

Cairo: At least five police conscripts were shot dead on Saturday by unidentified gunmen in Arish city of Egypt`s restive North Sinai province bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said.

The ministry`s statement said the five recruits were on their way back from vacation to their police central security department when the assailants stopped their vehicle and gunned them down.

The conscripts` ages varied between 21 and 23 and their bodies were moved to nearby Arish hospital body refrigerator, Xinhua reported.

Egypt has been facing a growing wave of terrorism since the military removed former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and launched a massive security crackdown on his loyalists, leaving about 1,000 of them killed and thousands more arrested.

Anti-government terror activities killed hundreds of police and military men in the Sinai Peninsula and other provinces over the past three years, with a Sinai-based militant group loyal to the Islamic State claiming responsibility for most of them.