Two Officers Killed by Gunmen Near Historic Giza Pyramids
CAIRO, June 3 (UPI) — Two officers from Egypt’s Tourism Police Department were killed by gunmen on Wednesday near the historic Giza Pyramids.
The officers were shot and seriously wounded in the Haram district of Giza and later died at a hospital. One deputy officer in training was injured in the attack.
Interior Minister Magdi Abdel Ghaffar has launched an investigation to determine the identity of the gunmen.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but violence in Egypt has increased, especially against government security forces, since former President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown.
Morsi, a member of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood, was recently sentenced to death after being convicted of orchestrating a mass prison break in 2011, but the Grand Mufti, Egypt’s highest religious authority, will decide if the verdict should stand.
The Sinai Province, an Islamic State affiliate, has carried out multiple attacks. Most attacks occur in the Sinai Peninsula, followed by attacks on Greater Cairo. The group claimed responsibility for an attack in the peninsula that killed about 30 people in January.
A state of emergency has been in effect in northern Sinai since October.
