IS claims attack
8 cops killed in Cairo suburb
AFP
AFP, CAIRO: Eight policemen were shot dead on Cairos southern outskirts in an attack claimed Sunday by the Islamic State group, one of its deadliest in mainland Egypt.
The interior ministry said four assailants in a truck intercepted a van carrying the policemen in the district of Helwan, just south of Cairo, and sprayed them with automatic rifle fire.
It said those killed in the shooting overnight included a lieutenant and seven lower ranking policemen who had been on patrol in plain clothing.
In a statement circulated on social media, IS said a squad of the soldiers of the caliphate opened fire on the police van and then made off with their weapons.
It said the attack was carried out in retaliation for women imprisoned in Egyptian jails.
Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Gaffar sounded a defiant note as the slain policemen were laid to rest.
We hold our heads high, and wont bow them to any attempt to defeat our will, he told state television.
Jihadists have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in attacks, mostly in the Sinai Peninsula and also in and around Cairo, since the military toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Militants had carried out a previous attack in Helwan, killing a policeman standing guard outside a museum in June 2015.
IS jihadists, who are based in the sparsely populated Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, have repeatedly tried to make inroads into the capital, where police have had more success in quelling them than in Sinai.
They have claimed several attacks in Cairo, including the bombing of the Italian consulate in July 2015.
