CAIRO — A drive-by shooting killed four Egyptian police officers near a historic site on the outskirts of Cairo on Saturday, and a military helicopter crashed as a result of a “sudden technical failure” northeast of the capital, officials said.

Masked gunmen on a motorcycle fired on a security checkpoint near Saqqara, said a police official, Maj. Gen. Khaled Shalaby. The area is the site of the 4,600-year-old Step Pyramid. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The helicopter that crashed was on a reconnaissance mission northeast of Cairo in Ismailia Province, the military said in a statement. It said crew members were injured, without specifying the number hurt or the severity of the injuries.

Egypt has been battling a growing insurgency in the northern Sinai Peninsula led by a local affiliate of the Islamic State group, which has mainly attacked soldiers and police officers there, but has also claimed attacks elsewhere in Egypt.