A low-ranking police officer was shot dead on Monday morning in the Nile Delta's Gharbiya governorate, a security source told state news agency MENA. 

He was killed when an armed group attacked a security checkpoint in Al-Sonta. Another officer was injured.

The area has been closed and is currently being searched, added the source. 

Since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi on 3 July 2013, attacks against police and army forces have spiked leaving hundreds of officers and soldiers injured and killed.