Islamist militants have claimed responsibility for a Cairo bomb attack that killed at least three policemen and injured several others. Officials say that one of those killed was a key witness in the trial of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi.
READ MORE: Egypt’s deposed Morsi charged with leaking state secrets to Qatar
The attack killed two police lieutenant colonels and a recruit,
according to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry. The explosion injured five
more policemen and one civilian, state television reported.
The blast was caused by an improvised explosive device that was
planted on a tree near the back entrance of the ministry
building, located on the back of the Nile in the Boulaq Abu Eila
neighborhood, local media reported. The bomb allegedly targeted a
police checkpoint near the entrance, security sources told AP.
One of the officers killed in the attack – Lieutenant Colonel
Mohamed Mahmoud Abu Sareeaa – was a key witness in the trial of
former president and Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi,
related to a 2011 mass prison break, court and security sources
told Reuters. However, it is not clear whether the policeman was
the target.
The Sinai-based jihadist group Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt,
claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on Twitter.
"This new operation shows we can penetrate and reach the
vicinity of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs...to destroy the
officers of the criminal security agencies and make them taste
some of what they have made Muslims taste," said the
statement.
Ajnad Misr's attack on the Foreign Ministry was claimed by the
group as part of its campaign of “retribution.”
"Vengeance operations being carried out by a blessed group
from this proud people will not stop," the group said.
The Sunday attack was the worst in months. The latest significant
attack in Cairo was performed on June 30 by the same group, when
two policemen were killed trying to defuse explosive devices.
Ajnad Misr is known to have carried out 16 attacks, killing at
least six police officers and a civilian since 2013, according to
the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. The group does not
target civilians, and instead directs its hostilities toward
state actors. Ajnad Misr has been the most active terrorist group
operating in Egypt outside of the Sinai Peninsula, mainly in the
area of Greater Cairo.
The group has said that the Cairo bombings were carried out as
revenge for the more than 1,400 pro-Morsi protesters that have
been killed in street clashes with police.
Explosions targeting police sites and personnel have intensified
over the past year, following the ouster of Islamist President
Mohamed Morsi in 2013 in an army coup d’état. Morsi is currently
in jail and under investigation over inciting violence.
The new military-backed government, headed by the incumbent
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, proclaimed the Muslim Brotherhood
a terrorist group in December. Most Islamist top leaders and
supporters have been killed or imprisoned following the coup. In
April, 683 Muslim Brotherhood supporters loyal to Morsi were
sentenced to death in a widely criticized mass trial. All but 110
were tried in absentia.