Three policemen killed in Cairo suicide blast

Cairo: The death toll from a suicide blast in Darb Al Ahmar district in downtown Cairo rose to three on Tuesday after a police officer died of his wounds, according to a security source in Cairo’s security department. The Middle East News Agency reported earlier that the bombing killed two policemen and wounded two officers, in addition to the attacker, when an explosive device was in his possession at the time of arrest. It was the third security incident to hit the country in the past week, including an attack on a military checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula that left 15 soldiers and seven militants dead. But attacks in the capital are relatively rare, though a roadside bomb in Giza killed three Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian guide in December. The interior ministry said on Monday that security forces were pursuing the man in the search for the perpetrator of an attempted attack against a police patrol in western Cairo on Friday. After catching the suspect close to the Al Azhar mosque, “one of the explosive devices in his possession exploded, causing the death of the terrorist and the martyrdom of a police officer from national security and an officer from Cairo investigations (department)”, the Monday statement said. At least three civilians were also wounded, including a Thai student, security sources said. The area around Al Azhar mosque is home to crowded markets and is a popular tourist site. The army launched a large-scale operation dubbed “Sinai 2018” in February to rid the Sinai of extremists after an attack on a mosque in the north of the peninsula killed more than 300 people. The army says that hundreds of suspected extremists have been killed since the campaign was launched.