An observation tower painted in the colours of the Egyptian national flag is seen near the Nitzana crossing, along Israel's border with Egypt's Sinai desert August 20, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)
Armed men shot dead two security personnel late Saturday in Egypt's North Sinai city of Al-Arish, the interior ministry said.
A police captain and a policeman died of injuries sustained in the attack by unidentified assailants, according to a statement from the ministry.
Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, an Islamic State-affiliated group, claimed responsibility for the shooting through a statement circulated on social media.
The group, which pledged its allegiance to the ISIS group last November, is responsible for the majority of attacks on security forces in North Sinai.
The Egyptian military began an intensive security sweep of the region in August 2012 after a militant attack killed 16 Egyptian soldiers, which was at the time the deadliest internal attack on Egyptian troops in years.
Security forces have since been struggling to crush the Islamist insurgency that has killed hundreds of army and police personnel, mostly in Sinai.
Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis intensified attacks on army and police personnel after the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
Short link: