Egyptian police killed six militants belonging to a group authorities accuse of a bombing in Alexandria that targeted a security chief two days before a presidential election.
Two policemen were killed in Egypt’s second city on Saturday by a bomb under a car that exploded as police Major General Mostafa al-Nemr drove past. He escaped unhurt.
“The interior ministry dealt an effective blow to the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Hasam movement, on the dawn of March 25. The ministry uncovered a terrorist den … and exchanged fire with its elements which led to the killing of six,” it said in a statement.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which the state news agency blamed on the banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation. Islamic State released a video last month warning Egyptians against voting and urged Islamists to attack security forces and leaders.
Police identified three of the dead. The ministry said its investigations showed the same group carried out Saturday’s bombing. The ministry did not indicate if those killed on Sunday took part in the bombing.
The militant Hasam Movement emerged in 2016 and claimed several attacks on security forces and judges, including the fatal shooting of a policeman. Egyptian authorities say the group is the Brotherhood’s armed wing, but the Brotherhood says it rejects violence.
Egypt started three days of voting on Monday in a presidential election which President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is widely expected to win.
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