Egyptian officials say a Christian priest and two members of the country's security forces have been killed by suspected Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula's turbulent north.
They say the priest was gunned down while walking in the city of el-Arish today. Christian clerics have in the past been targeted by militants in Sinai.
In a separate attack, a bomb blast killed one policeman and wounded two outside el-Arish's main hospital.
In a village near the border town of Rafah, a bomb blast badly wounded a soldier. The soldier was wounded again when an ambulance taking him to el-Arish, escorted by an armored vehicle, was ambushed by militants. Another soldier was killed.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
