Eight Egyptian security personnel were killed early Wednesday in a militant attack in the country's restive Sinai peninsula, the Interior Ministry said, according to dpa. "A group of terrorist elements attacked at dawn Wednesday a security checkpoint in the southern city of Arish," the ministry said in a statement quoted by state TV. It added that security forces exchanged fire with the militants, killing five of them. "A police officer, a non-commissioned police officer and six conscripts were martyred," the ministry said, adding that a manhunt has been launched.