World IN BRIEF : EGYPT : Suspected Militants Kill 8 Police, 3 Others

Suspected Muslim militants disguised as police shot and killed eight police officers and wounded at least two others in four separate attacks, security sources said. Three civilians were also killed and four injured in the attacks that took place within an hour of each other near the Nile valley town of Mallawi, 160 miles south of Cairo. In a statement faxed to news agencies, Egypt’s largest militant organization, the Gamaa al Islamiya (Islamic Group), claimed responsibility for the attacks. The statement said that 15 policemen were killed and that the attacks were in revenge for the killing of members of the group by the police. The statement was the first from the group since September, when members of the organization shot and killed two German tourists and an Egyptian at the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.