A second policeman has died after a drive-by shooting in northern Egypt on Wednesday, state news agency MENA reported.

Masked gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on two policemen -junior policeman Al-Tablawi Moussa, 31, and conscript Sherif Bayoumi, 30 -on a highway in the Nile Delta governorate of Sharqiya.

Bayoumi died shortly after the attack while Moussa succumbed to his injuries later in the day.

Islamist militants have stepped up their attacks on police and army targets since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula which adjoins Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Scores of policemen and soldiers have been killed in drive-by shootings and bombings in recent months.

A series of deadly bombings targeting police in Cairo last month—which were claimed by the Sinai-based militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis—has raised anxiety that militant violence is taking hold outside the border region.

Egyptian authorities have mounted a broad crackdown on Morsi supporters and his Muslim Brotherhood movement. Hundreds, mostly Islamists, have been killed in street violence, and thousands, including most seniorBrotherhood leader are behind bars.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has also claimed the assassinations of several senior police officers in recent months - attacks itsays were in revenge for a crackdown on Islamists.





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