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Gunmen kill police officer guarding Niger embassy in Cairo

The photo shows Egyptian security forces in the capital, Cairo, on May 16, 2015. (© AFP)

A police officer guarding the embassy of Niger in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, has been shot dead by two unknown gunmen.

Two more officers sustained injuries after the armed men in a vehicle opened fire outside Niger’s embassy late on Tuesday night, a police official said, adding that the gunmen then fled the scene.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the shooting, and it was not clear whether the embassy was the primary target.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a government official said the raid intended to target security officials and not the diplomatic mission, which was closed at the time.

According to a security official, early investigations showed that the Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) militant group was behind the attack, which probably came in revenge for the recent killing of two members of the group by Egyptian security forces.

In April, the militant group claimed responsibility for last year’s bombings outside Egypt’s presidential palace and Foreign Ministry, which killed four police officers.

Since the July 2013 ouster of Egypt’s first democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi, militants have frequently launched similar attacks, targeting security forces in the North African country.

The government of Egypt’s incumbent President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who toppled Morsi in a military coup, has frequently blamed Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi rose to power, for the violence. The group, however, denies such allegations.


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