Six Egyptian soldiers killed by gunmen in Shubra al-Khayma

Gunmen have killed six Egyptian soldiers at a checkpoint in the northern Cairo suburb of Shubra al-Khayma, state media reports.

A security official said two bombs left behind by the attackers had been defused.

The violence comes two days after another soldier was shot dead in an attack on an army bus in eastern Cairo.

There has been an upsurge in violence since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last July.

The military has accused Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood of carrying out this latest and previous attacks. The Muslim Brotherhood denies involvement.

The Muslim Brotherhood was designated a terrorist group in December and thousands of its members have been put on trial.

A series of high-profile attacks on security forces in Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula have been claimed by another group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which it says are in revenge for the military-backed government’s repression of Mohamed Morsi’s supporters.