A gunman opened fire on a church south of Cairo on Friday and was shot dead by policemen, police officials said.

The gunman had opened fire outside the church, wounding five security guards, and tried to storm the building when police shot him dead, the officials said.

A picture of the alleged gunman's corpse published on the official Al-Ahram newspaper's website showed a bearded man wearing a bulky ammunition vest sprawled on a street.

The Islamic State group's affiliate in Egypt has killed dozens of Christians in church bombings and shootings over the past year, and has threatened further attacks against the minority.

Egypt's Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of the country's 93 million people, and are the largest religious minority in the region.