Egyptian security forces and civilians gather near the scene after a roadside bomb went off on a busy street in downtown near the foreign ministry, in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, Sept. 21, 2014. Security officials said the Sunday explosion targeted a police checkpoint near the back gate of the ministry building. Several people were wounded, and senior policemen killed said the officials. (AP Photo/Aly Hazzaa, El Shorouk) EGYPT OUT
Republished September 22, 2014 - 6:25 AM
Original Publication Date September 21, 2014 - 1:35 AM
CAIRO - An Egyptian militant group claimed responsibility for Sunday's bomb blast in a busy downtown Cairo street near the Foreign Ministry that killed two senior police officers and wounded several other policemen.
Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, which has claimed previous attacks on police, said in a statement posted late Sunday on its Twitter account and on a militant website that it had used an explosive device on "officers of the criminal apparatus" as part of its campaign against security forces.
It said a group of its members carried out "a new penetration operation to reach the foreign ministry's perimeter and plant the explosive device." It did not say how they detonated the explosives.
It said the attacks will not stop until "the ruling tyrants fall and God's Shariah is established ... and that when a hero dies he will be replaced by several heroes who will follow his path."
Similar attacks have intensified since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi more than one year ago. Ajnad Misr says its attacks were revenge for the violent government crackdown on Morsi supporters following his ouster that left hundreds killed.
In July, the group claimed responsibility for bomb blasts outside the presidential palace in Cairo that killed two senior police officers and wounded 10 other people. It said the bombs it used cannot be detected by ordinary equipment.
Following the July attack, Egypt's chief prosecutor charged 20 suspected members of the group with carrying out terrorist attacks that killed seven people and wounded more than 100. Six of the men are still at large.
Ajnad Misr also claimed responsibility for April's killing of police Brig. Gen. Ahmed Zaki, by detonating a bomb under his car.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014