An Egyptian policeman was shot dead in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia early on Tuesday after an exchange of fire with Islamist militants.
Police captain Ahmed Waheed, 26, was killed after a raid on the apartment of militant suspects resulted in a heavy firefight, Al-Ahram's Arabic news website reported.
One of the suspects was also killed in the gunfight.
The slain "militant" was a twenty-year-old medical student who had close ties with a militant cell planning a series of explosions in army and police installations, a security official has said.
Both bodies have been transferred to a provincial hospital for post-mortem examination.
Arms, including a rocket-propelled grenade and explosives devices, were seized in the attack, the official added.
The operation by security forces to apprehend militants in the city came in the wake of a car bomb explosion near a provincal police base last Thursday. One police officer was killed and at least 22 others injured, inlcuding civilians.
Islamist militants have stepped up violence against security forces in the Sinai Peninsula, bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, since the July ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, killing dozens of troops and police in near-daily attacks.
Short link: