Islamic State group claims Cairo shooting attack

Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for the shooting that killed eight police officers in a Cairo district in a statement circulated online on Sunday.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab

08 May, 2016

Egyptian police had previously been more effective at quelling IS attacks in Cairo [Anadolu]

Egypt's Islamic State [IS] group branch claimed Sunday the shooting that killed eight Egyptian police officers in the Helwan district south of Cairo.

A lieutenant and seven lower ranking police officers were travelling in a minivan when IS militants sprayed the vehicle with automatic rifle fire, the interior ministry said Saturday.

"A squad of the soliders of the caliphate" opened fire on the van in Helwan, killing the police officers and taking their weapons, IS said in a statement that circulated online.

The attack was retaliation for "the pure women imprisoned" by Egyptian authorities, it said.

The Egyptian branch of the militant group has led an insurgency in the sparsely populated Sinai Peninsula, killing hundreds of soldiers and police officers.

Last October, IS claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Russian airliner over Sinai, killing all 224 people on board.

But attacks in or near the Egyptian capital are rare as police had been more effective at quelling them in Cairo than in Sinai.