Six soldiers died on Saturday at 5am when a group of armed assailants shot at a military police checkpoint, according to Military Spokesman Ahmed Mohamed Ali.
The group that officials say was affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood opened fire on the soldiers as they prayed at the checkpoint in Musturud at the beginning of the Cairo-Ismailia Road.
Ali said the assailants also planted bombs next to the checkpoint to target any troops that would come to the point.
On Facebook, Ali said that three bombs were found by the civil protection forces and military engineers. They were then defused.
“Armed forces offer condolences to families of the martyrs,” he added vowing that such “coward terrorist operations will increase our determination to resume war against terrorism and follow the criminal elements,” he added.
In related news, Major General Mohamed Ibrahim, interior minister, said the incident is a swift response from extremist groups toward following the terrorist elements as well as murder of Tawfiq Mohamed Fereig, known as Abu Abdulla, and Mohamed al-Sayyed Mansour al-Toukhy, known as Abu Obaida.
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis earlier announced killing of Abu Abdullah on Tuesday in a road accident, after which a bomb he was holding exploded leading to his murder.
Ibrahim added that police will continue its operations against criminals who intimidate Egyptians.
The minister also offered condolences over the deaths and vowed quick retaliation, indicating that a ministry team collaborates with armed forces to reach the criminals.
Meanwhile, Islamist groups condemned the attack, which comes two days after Salafi Preacher Mohamed Abdel Maqsoud issued an edict allowing murder of police and military personnel as well as burning their houses.
The Salafi-oriented Nour Party called for enacting the initiative to stop the violence rather than depending on security solution to combat extremism.
However, the Muslim Brotherhood cleared itself from the attack saying in a statement that the military spokesperson’s remarks accusing the group of committing the crime is a tradition by the ‘coup regime’ which accuses the group of every accident without investigation.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
