At least eight policemen were killed and three wounded in an attack by extremist militants on a security checkpoint in Egypt’s New Valley province in the Western Desert, the Interior Ministry said on Monday.

State television said the attack took place at around 8.15 p.m. in the Naqb checkpoint more that 600 kilometers (370 miles) southwest of Cairo.

At least two of the attackers were killed, the Interior Ministry said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Egypt is facing a more than three-year-old extremist insurgency led by ISIL after general-turned-President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led the military in ousting extremist President Mohammad Mursi after mass protests against his rule.

The insurgency is largely contained in the Sinai Peninsula, far from where Monday’s attack took place. Hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed.

There have been occasional attacks, however, in the Western Desert which borders chaotic neighbor Libya where ISIL is also active.

Security officials say militants operating from Libya are trying to forge ties with extremists in the Sinai, an alliance that could prolong Egypt’s instability and scare away tourists and investors who are needed to help fix a battered economy.

Source: AFP