Six civilians killed in ambush in Sinai, Egypt

Unknown armed men on Wednesday killed six civilians in an ambush in Egypt's restive Sinai region, witnesses reported.
The ambush was mounted on a road, west of al-Arish, the capital city of North Sinai province, they told dpa. The attackers killed the six and seized three others before they fled into the desert, the witnesses added.
 A source at a local hospital said the six dead people had been transferred to the hospital with their bodies decapitated.
 "We have not identified them," the source added, declining to give his name. Police forces were sent to the site of the attack and officers sealed off the major roads in Sinai, according to a security source. Government planes were seen flying overhead searching for the perpetrators, locals said.
So far, there has been no claim of responsibility for the reported attack. North Sinai is a hotbed for radical Islamists, who have claimed a series of deadly attacks on security forces in the largely desert region Egypt has battled an insurgency in North Sinai since the 2011 uprising, which toppled long-time autocrat Hosny Mubarak.
Extremist attacks intensified after the army deposed the democratically elected but divisive Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013. Most attacks in the region have been claimed by an Islamic State affiliate.