(Photo by Hamed Abu El-Dahab)
A police officer, identified as Karim Hendawy, was killed and another injured in a drive-by shooting Tuesday evening in Marsa Matruh, according to an interior ministry statement.
The statement read that the officer was shot by unknown assailants as he and another policeman were inspecting “the remains of a body” in a deserted area in Matruh. The policemen were shot at as they were attempting to stop a suspicious car.
The police officer died due to a wound sustained in the chest, with the other policeman was shot in the left arm.
“Intensified efforts” are being implemented to capture the assailants, according to the ministry statement.
Insurgent activity targeting policemen and a concomitant high security presence have been on the rise since the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
The frequency of these attacks is at its highest in the restive Sinai Peninsula, followed by Greater Cairo and other governorates.
A similar incident took place in mid-February when a conscript was killed and three others were injured when unknown gunmen attacked a checkpoint in Banha. Another incident left two policemen injured in a shooting early January in Giza, with the attack later claimed by militant group “Popular Resistance”.
Militant groups including “State of Sinai”, Ajnad Misr, “Popular Resistance” and “Revolutionary Punishment” claim responsibility for the attacks. “State of Sinai” mainly operates in the North Sinai area, while other groups target Greater Cairo and other governorates.
Checkpoints, areas with a high security presence, and recently telecommunication branches, banks, electricity supply units are among militant targets.
