TVC NEWS, EGYPT - Egyptian police
killed two alleged jihadists suspected of involvement in the recent bombing of
the Italian consulate in Cairo in a raid on Monday on an apartment in the
capital, security officials said.
The two men were killed in a
gunfight when a police team went to arrest them, the officials said.
"The two jihadists belonged to
Ajnad Misr [Soldiers of Egypt] and investigations reveal that they could be
involved in the bombing of the Italian consulate," one official said,
adding they were also wanted "for their role in assassinating
policemen".
ISIS had claimed the July 11 bombing
of the consulate, the first such attack on a foreign mission in Egypt since
jihadists launched a campaign against the country's security forces two years
ago following a crackdown on Islamists.
A civilian was killed and nine
others were wounded in the attack.
Ajnad Misr has previously claimed
several deadly attacks in Cairo, particularly targeting policemen, and have
planted bombs outside key buildings such as the presidential palace and Cairo
University.
In April, the group's leader Hammam
Mohamed Attiyah was shot dead in a gunfight with police at a Cairo apartment.
Police say Attiya previously
belonged to Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State
group, and that he broke away in 2013 to found Ajnad Misr, a group operating
mainly in Cairo.
On July 1, nine militants, including
senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Nasser al-Houfia, were killed in a similar
police raid on an apartment in Cairo.
The Muslim Brotherhood said the nine
were leaders of the movement, which was designated a "terrorist
group" after the military toppled Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in
2013.
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