(Photo: CGTN)

CAIRO, April 14 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian policeman was killed and three others wounded on Tuesday during a shootout with terrorists in a neighborhood in the capital Cairo, the Egyptian general prosecution said in a statement.

The prosecutor-general ordered to launch investigation into the terrorist activity that took place in Al-Amiriya neighborhood in Cairo, said the prosecution's statement.

An Egyptian state TV channel said that the police managed to break into the building and kill all the gunmen inside but it didn't specify their number, saying the terrorists were plotting anti-security operations during the nighttime curfew imposed in the country to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Earlier on Tuesday, the police warned residents to stay at home and find shelter away from windows and doors during the shootout that started in late afternoon.

Egypt has been fighting a wave of terrorism that killed hundreds of policemen, soldiers and civilians since the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and the later security crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group, which is currently blacklisted as a terrorist organization.

Most terrorist attacks in Egypt over the past few years were claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the Islamic State.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian security forces have killed hundreds of terrorists and arrested thousands of suspects during the country's anti-terror war launched following Morsi's ouster.