CAIRO: Gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed an Egyptian policeman and wounded a second who were guarding banks in a busy commercial district of the capital Cairo on Saturday, Egypt’s state news agency said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack which took place at daybreak in the usually busy Sphinx Square, across the Nile from downtown Cairo. Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, an extremist outfit allied with the Islamic State group, has claimed responsibility for a string of similar attacks against police and soldiers.

Authorities are on high alert during the holiday season, with reinforcements deployed in the capital and around hotels and churches. Militant attacks have been on the rise.