News / Egypt

Daesh kills Egyptian officer, soldier near Cairo

Saturday, 09 January 2016 3:14 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 09 January 2016 3:15 PM ]

This file photo shows Egyptian policemen standing next to a damaged car in front of a damaged national security building after a bomb blast in northern Cairo’s district of Shubra al-Khaima. (AFP photo)

Gunmen have killed a police officer and a soldier in an area on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

The shooting attack was carried out in the Giza area on Saturday, while the victims were in their vehicle on the way to work.

“Immediately after the incident several moving and fixed checkpoints were deployed in the Muneeb area in order to crack down on the attackers and catch them,” the state news agency quoted a security source as saying.

The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group claimed responsibility for the shooting in a statement posted on social networking service Telegram.

The Egyptian affiliate of Daesh, the Velayat Sinai, previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, has claimed credit in the past for a number of attacks mainly targeting the army and police in the capital and the restive Sinai Peninsula, where the main portion of their attacks takes place. The group pledged allegiance to Daesh in November 2014.

The Egyptian army has been fighting militancy in the Sinai region for years as it views the volatile area as a safe haven for terrorists. It launched its operation against the Velayat Sinai in September 2015.

The Sinai region has been under a state of emergency since October 2014, following a deadly terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 33 soldiers.

On January 5, at least four Egyptian soldiers were killed in a shelling attack carried out by the militants in the peninsula’s northern region.

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