Explosion in Cairo kills 6 Egyptian policemen, injures others

CAIRO – An explosive blast, possibly a bomb, killed six policemen and injured three others Friday in what was likely the deadliest assault targeting Egyptian security forces in Cairo in recent months, according to the country’s state-run news service.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, which occurred on al-Haram Street, a main road leading to Egypt’s famed Giza pyramids, according to the Middle East News Agency. It reported that the policemen were targeted but provided no further details.

Egypt’s Interior Ministry, which oversees the police and security forces, said in a statement that the explosion took place near “two security points” and that security forces were deployed to the scene following the incident. It said three of those killed were officers.

News agencies said the policemen were in two vehicles and were parked along the road at a checkpoint. Four civilians were also reported injured by the explosion.

In May, gunmen attacked a bus filled with police in the Cairo suburb of Helwan, killing eight of them. The Islamic State’s affiliate in Egypt, based in the northern Sinai Peninsula, claimed responsibility for that attack. On Friday, suspicions again fell on the group.

Attacks aimed at Egypt’s military-led government have increased since the 2013 overthrow of elected President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood. Judges and senior officials have also been targeted by radical Islamists, largely driven by the crackdowns on the Muslim Brotherhood by Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s government.

Last month, an Egyptian general was assassinated near his home in the northern Sinai, an attack that was also claimed by the Islamic State.