News / Egypt

Militant attack kills Egyptian police, injures two others

Wednesday, 17 February 2016 9:46 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 17 February 2016 9:45 AM ]

Egyptian emergency personnel move a victim into an ambulance following a car bomb explosion that targeted a police station in North Sinai’s provincial capital of El Arish, April 12, 2015. (Photo by AFP)

At least one Egyptian police officer has been killed and two others have been injured in an attack by unidentified armed men against a security checkpoint west of the capital, Cairo.

Security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the assailants opened fire on the checkpoint in the Giza district of El Badrashin, situated about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Cairo, late on Tuesday. The attackers later fled the scene on a motorcycle.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the assault, yet. Security forces have launched an investigation into the attack, and a search for the assailants is also underway.

The development came only three days after two Egyptian soldiers lost their lives and another sustained injuries when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in the violence-plagued Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt’s military spokesman, Brigadier General Mohammed Samir, wrote on his Facebook page that a team of bomb disposal experts were combing Karm al-Kwadis area of the town of Sheikh Zuweid, located about 334 kilometers (207 miles) northeast of the capital, Cairo, on Saturday, when the bomb went off.

On February 1, two policemen were killed when a bomb explosion struck their vehicle in the border town of Rafah, located 340 kilometers (211 miles) east of Cairo. The incident happened only a day after an explosive device targeted a police patrol car south of Rafah, killing two Egyptian police officers and injuring four others.

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 extremists, who use it as a safe haven.

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 neighboring Syria.

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