Two assailants believed to be behind Friday’s attack on a Giza security checkpoint were killed on Saturday by Egyptian security forces, a security directorate source told Al-Ahram Arabic news website.

The source said the suspects were killed in a desert area near the attack scene.

On Friday, gunmen attacked a checkpoint in the Giza town of El-Badrashein, killing two policemen and three conscripts.

Egypt is battling an Islamist insurgency centred in North Sinai, though militants have also struck elsewhere in the country, including the capital, often targeting police and army personnel.