Two Egyptian policemen were shot dead in the early hours of Sunday at a highway checkpoint east of Cairo.

Two Egyptian policemen were shot dead in the early hours of Sunday at a highway checkpoint east of Cairo, the Interior Ministry said.

Unknown assailants boarding a private vehicle fired at the checkpoint when security forces tried to stop them for a check-up after they appeared on the road from out of the desert, according to the ministry statement.

Two policemen were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire, the ministry said.

Security forces later combed the surrounding desert area around the checkpoint in search of the assailants who have fled the scene following the shootout.

No group has claimed responsibility for the incident, the latest in a series of deadly attacks which have mostly targeted security forces since last July's military ouster of Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammad Mursi.

Sunday's attack comes within less than 48 hours after an Egyptian traffic police officer was killed and another injured in an explosion that targeted their checkpoint in Giza province on Friday night.