Two policemen killed in separate attacks in Cairo

After a hiatus of nearly two months, the terrorist again hit hard Egypt on the eve of the first anniversary of the coup that deposed President Mohamed Morsi. Two police officers died and a dozen wounded when three bombs exploded near the presidential palace Ittihadiya in Cairo on Monday. The two policemen belonged to the team of experts in explosives and were preparing to defuse various devices planted near the presidency.

As reported by the website of the government newspaper Al Ahram, Colonel Ahmed al Ashmawy died while defusing a bomb that caused the explosion of a second device. A few minutes later, two more explosives were also detonated near Ittihadiya palace, killing a second agent. Immediately after, the security forces cordoned off Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the revolt that toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak as a preventive measure against new attacks.

Anjad Misr (Egypt Soldiers) has claimed responsibility for the attacks. This organization, established in the fall, said last week it had aborted at the last minute a campaign of attacks in the vicinity of the presidential palace because of the risk that had to cause casualties among the civilian population.

The attacks on Monday, the second day of the holy month of Ramadan, are the latest in a terrorist offensive that began last Wednesday with a string of four explosions of homemade bombs on the subway underpowered Cairo that caused injury to the least six people. On Saturday, two powerful bombs in a telecommunications center in construction caused the death of a 18 year old girl and her mother. That same day, there were two attacks on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula that raised the death toll to 6 people.

The terrorist attack comes as the first anniversary of the massive demonstrations calling for the resignation of the first democratically elected president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted from power three days later by the Army. After the coup, a campaign of harassment of the Muslim  brotherhood which has led to the imprisonment of almost all of its dome, including the president Morsi began, and the arrest of thousands of his supporters and the closure of all media communication related to the group. Mohamed Badie, the Supreme Guide of the organization, as well as other leaders, have been sentenced to the death penalty.

During the past year, a powerful insurgency repeatedly hit the country’s security forces. According to the Ministry of Interior, including police and soldiers, some 500 people have died as a result of the terrorist attacks. Many of them have occurred in the Sinai Peninsula, a remote, desert, border area with Israel, which had become the base of operations for several militant organizations.

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Posted by Maleeha Tareen on Jul 1 2014. Filed under Middle East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.