New militant group
claims responsibility for
Friday blast in Cairo
CAIRO (Reuters) - The Egyptian militant
group, Ajnad Misr, claimed responsibility on
Saturday for a blast that killed one police
officer in Cairo.
The bomb exploded in Cairo's Lebanon
Square on Friday night, killing the officer and
wounding another.
Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, said in a
statement on an Islamist website that its
militants had monitored a police checkpoint
in the square before detonating the bomb.
The group formally announced itself in
January saying it would target "criminal
elements" in the military-backed
government.
It has claimed at least six attacks since then,
including explosions outside Cairo University
which killed a police brigadier-general and
one other person earlier this month.
In a separate attack, early on Sunday, a
police officer was killed on the Suez-Cairo
road after being fired at by unknown
assailants, the state news agency reported.
Islamist militants have stepped up attacks
on members of the security forces, killing
hundreds, since the army toppled Egypt's
first freely elected President Mohamed Mursi
in July.
The insurgency threatens national security
ahead of a presidential election in May, as
well as the vital tourist industry.
Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri gave his
blessing, in a recording released on an
Islamist website on Friday night, to Jihadists
in carrying out attacks against the army and
security forces in Egypt. Al Qaeda is not
believed to be linked to Ajnad Misr.
(Reporting by Asma Alsharif; Editing by
Angus MacSwan and Sandra Maler)
© Thomson Reuters 2014
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