Unidentified armed men have attacked a police vehicle near the Egyptian, capital, Cairo, killing eight policemen

Unidentified armed men have attacked a police vehicle near the Egyptian, capital, Cairo, killing eight policemen.

In a statement released on Sunday on its official Facebook page, the Egyptian Interior Ministry said that the assault was carried out by four gunmen dressed in civilian clothes in the city of Helwan, just south of Cairo.

The assailants, who were carrying automatic weapons, got out of a small pick-up truck, stopped the police car, sprayed it with bullets and then fled the scene, according to the statement.

A first lieutenant was among the eight victims of the incident, the statement said, adding that an investigation was underway to identify those behind the deadly attack.

Local residents said the gunmen wore masks.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the blast, but such incidents are often blamed on ISIL-affiliated militants mainly based in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula.