Gunmen have killed a parliamentary candidate in Egypt's volatile Sinai Peninsula as the North African country continues to grapple with insecurity, Press TV reported.
According to security sources, Mostafa Abdelrahman, the secretary of the Salafi al-Nour Party, was shot dead by two gunmen riding a motorcycle in Arish, the capital of the Northern Sinai Province, outside his home on Saturday morning.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the killing.
Al-Nour garnered 28 percent of the votes in the 2011-12 parliamentary election; however, the party has since lost its popularity for supporting a deadly crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, and for announcing readiness to join the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
The first round of the 2015 parliamentary elections was held on October 18-19 in Egypt. A political alliance loyal to Sisi dominated the vote that saw a low turnout. The second round is scheduled for November 22-23.
Arish residents say the militants in the city have threatened candidates in the parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, in a separate incident on Saturday, three police officers were killed and eight wounded in a bomb attack in Arish.
The Egyptian military has been engaged in operations to quell acts of terrorism and militancy in the Sinai Peninsula. It views the volatile region as a sanctuary for terrorists.
The militant group Velayat Sinai, previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in Sinai. Last November, the group pledged allegiance to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which is mainly operating in Iraq and Syria.