Three policemen reportedly killed in attack at prison in Egypt's Sinai

At least three policemen were reportedly killed, including a colonel and two constables, and eight others injured, some seriously, on Sunday morning when a number of detainees managed to seize weapons inside the state security building in El-Arish, the capital of restive North Sinai province in north-eastern Egypt.

After the attack, communication services were cut across the city and only came back several hours later when joint army and police forces contained the situation, a local security source told The New Arab on condition of anonymity.

Unconfirmed reports indicated that an unidentified number of attackers were killed during an exchange of fire with the security forces inside the building.  

No further details were immediately available at the time of publication.

An IS-linked insurgency has raged for years in the Sinai Peninsula’s north. It intensified after a 2013 military coup led by current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi against his predecessor, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.

While there is no official death toll, it is believed that hundreds of Egyptian security forces, civilians and militants have died in the ongoing violence.