News / Egypt

Assailants gun down policeman in Egyptian capital

Thursday, 10 December 2015 6:58 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 10 December 2015 6:58 PM ]

An Egyptian policeman inspects a tourist bus at a checkpoint outside Sharm el-Sheikh airport on November 11, 2015. ©AFP

Unidentified assailants have shot and killed an Egyptian police officer in the capital, Cairo, official sources say.

An unmade Egyptian police officer told AFP on Thursday that two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on the policeman guarding a post office in the Bardasheen district in southern Cairo and fled the scene before security forces arrived.

The policeman, dressed in plainclothes, died on the spot, according to the official. Egyptian security sources said they were scanning the area of the attack in search of the gunmen, who were still at large.

Over the past years, militants have been carrying out terror activities across Egypt, taking advantage of the turmoil caused in the country after the first democratically-elected president, Mohamed Morsi, was ousted from power by the military in July 2013.

On December 4, at least 16 people lost their lives and several others were wounded in a firebomb attack at a restaurant in the Egyptian capital.

Also in late November, four Egyptian security personnel were killed in a shooting attack on a police checkpoint south of Cairo. The assault was claimed by militants affiliated with the Daesh Takfiri terror group, which is primarily active in Iraq and Syria.

The militant group, known as Velayat Sinai, has killed scores of policemen and soldiers, mostly in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

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