Egyptian police killed in Sinai ambush at Rafah

Sinai has seen almost daily militant attacks in recent weeks, including this car bomb in El Arish in July

At least 24 Egyptian policemen have been killed in an ambush attack in the Sinai peninsula.

Medical sources and officials said the police were in two buses which came under attack from armed men close to the town of Rafah on the Gaza border.

A state of emergency is in force across Egypt amid wider political turmoil following a military crackdown on Islamists in which hundreds have died.

Thirty-six protesters died in a prison van on Sunday.

The recent violence has caused an international outcry.

EU foreign ministers are meeting on Wednesday to decide whether to cut some of the billions of euros in aid pledged to the country.

But Saudi Arabia has reportedly said it "will not hesitate to help" Egypt's interim government - which was formed after the military removed Mr Morsi from power - if Western nations cut their aid packages.

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Analysis

Frank GardnerBBC security correspondent

The northern Sinai has become one of the most dangerous places in Egypt since 2011.

The area is a crossroads for local Bedouin smuggling and criminal gangs, Egyptian jihadists and militants with links to the adjacent Gaza strip. Kidnapping, the smuggling of guns and explosives, and attacks on Egypt's security forces have proliferated since the end of President Mubarak's military rule in 2011.

The Sinai Peninsula, scene of heavy fighting in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, is host to an international observer force of soldiers deployed to monitor the peace since the 1979 treaty with Israel but they have neither the mandate nor the capacity to stop the Sinai descending into lawlessness.

So far, the tourist resort of Sharm El Sheikh [at the southern tip of the Sinai] has remained immune to the post-Arab Spring violence.

It is too early to tell if this attack is in direct response to events in Cairo and other mainland Egyptian cities and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for Hosni Mubarak has said he expects the former leader to be released from prison within the next two days.

Lawyer Fareed al-Dib told the BBC Mubarak had been cleared of one of the corruption charges and they were waiting for the court to check whether he still had to be held in custody on other charges.

Mubarak is facing a retrial for corruption and complicity in the deaths of protesters during the 2011 uprising.

While it is still no more than a rumour his release would be seen by many Egyptians as a signal that the military is rolling back the changes that flowed from the uprising of 2011, the BBC's Kevin Connolly reports from Cairo.

Prison van deaths

There were conflicting reports about how Monday's attack in the Sinai unfolded.

Security sources quoted by the Associated Press news agency say four armed men stopped the buses and forced the police to get out before shooting them.

But other reports spoke of rocket-propelled grenades being fired at the buses.

Three policemen were also reported to have been injured in the blast.

The Rafah border post into Gaza was closed in response to the attack and security increased at checkpoints on the peninsula.

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Egypt's recent violence

• Wednesday 14 August - official figures say 638 people died as security forces shut down pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo
• Thursday 15 August - police authorised to use live fire to protect government buildings
• Friday 16 August - 173 people are killed in clashes around Cairo's Ramses Square, during a "day of anger" over Wednesday's army operation
• Saturday 17 August - security forces lay siege to and forcibly clear the al-Fath mosque in Cairo, being used as a pro-Morsi base and hospital.
• Sunday 18 August - 36 Islamist prisoners die as they are being transported to a prison outside Cairo.

• Q&A: Egypt in turmoil

The military recently intensified a crackdown against militants in Sinai, where attacks have surged since 2011.

Egyptian deployments in the peninsula are subject to the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

Egypt's interim, military-backed leaders have declared a state of emergency amid the nationwide unrest which has followed the ousting of Islamist Mohammed Morsi as president on 3 July.

A night-time curfew is in place in the capital, Cairo, and many other provinces.

More than 830 people, including 70 police and soldiers, are reported to have been killed since Wednesday, when the army cleared protest camps set up by Morsi supporters, many of them members of the Muslim Brotherhood movement.

On Sunday night, 36 Islamists died as they were being transported to a prison outside Cairo.

Government and military officials said they had suffocated in the back of a prison van from the effects of tear gas, which was fired when the prisoners rioted.

But there were other reports of gunfire.

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• Who is who in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood
• Profile: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

The Brotherhood said the interior ministry had "decided to betray its trust and ignore its role" and had killed the detainees "for their opposition to the bloody military council".

It said the "heinous crime shows the total disregard of the right to life by these murderous fascist thugs" and raised concerns about the safety of the hundreds of pro-Morsi activists now in detention.

Wednesday's meeting of EU foreign ministers was agreed during preparatory talks with senior diplomats in Brussels.

EU special envoy Bernardino Leon said the ministers would consider a variety of options - including an arms embargo - but would work from the premise that a political solution to the crisis in Egypt is possible.

Mr Morsi's supporters say the removal of Egypt's first freely elected president was a coup.

However the interim government says the Muslim Brotherhood has carried out a campaign of terror since he was overthrown.

The head of the armed forces, Gen Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, has warned the military will not tolerate unrest.