Mortar shelling kills 13 Egyptian police

A mortar attack in northern Sinai has killed 13 Egyptian police officers, the interior ministry says.

Thirteen Egyptian policemen have been killed in an attack on a security checkpoint in restive northern Sinai where Islamist insurgents are active, the interior ministry says.

A mortar shell hit the checkpoint in al-Arish, the capital city of northern Sinai, the ministry said in a statement on Facebook on Saturday.

Security forces are combing the area, hunting for the assailants, the statement added, without giving details.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Security forces in Sinai's largely desert landscape have come under repeated attacks from hardline jihadists since the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime dictator Hosny Mubarak.

The extremists stepped up their attacks after the military deposed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

A group loyal to the Islamic State terrorist militia has claimed responsibility for many of these attacks.