Update: Militants kill two policemen in Sinai

Two police officers were killed in Arish, North Sinai, on Friday evening after unknown assailants on motorbikes fired at them, state media reported.

The news agency had reported attacks on security posts in North Sinai earlier in the day, when armed groups targeted five military and police checkpoints in the area with heavy arms, killing a conscript and injuring three. 

The attacks were perpetrated on the Masoura, Sheikh Zuwayid, Al-Jora, Abu Tawila and the Arish airport checkpoints.

Security sources said that the military deployed helicopters to identify the attackers. According to the state-run daily Al-Ahram, an Apache helicopter bombed the car attacking the Arish airport checkpoint. 

The state-run Middle East News Agency reported that the Rafah border crossing, the main lifeline of movement for Palestinians in Gaza, was closed in the aftermath of the attacks. An official source told MENA that the closure was only temporary due to security reasons, and that it would reopen on Saturday. 

Security sources told Reuters that they had expected the attacks, which were likely coordinated with a high level of organization, since they targeted six posts at the same time. The source said that 500 militants have been identified in North Sinai, who had been deployed in 200 cars. 

Meanwhile, in a statement released earlier this week, the Muslim Brotherhood announced its rejection of any form of violence. 

Scattered incidents of violence took place around Egypt after a military statement on Wednesday ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and temporarily replaced him with the newly appointed head of the Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour. 

Sinai has been the site of repeated attacks by militant groups, while the state has proven itself to be unable to secure the area. People in Sinai often explain the security problem in the peninsula as a product of the state's political and economic neglect.