Egypt: Five police killed in ambush south of Cairo

Event

Egyptian officials announced on Friday, July 14, that five police officers were killed in an ambush in the Al-Badrasheen area of Giza governorate. Three gunmen on motorcycles reportedly ambushed the officers at a security checkpoint, shot and killed them, and proceeded to steal their weapons and radios before fleeing. Officials also reported the assailants attempted to set fire to the bodies of the victims. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but it appears to be part of a string of attacks on security forces that comes as the police and army say they are closing in on radical Islamist militants who have carried out attacks in the northern Sinai Peninsula, Nile Valley, and elsewhere.

Context

Egypt faces an Islamic State (IS) insurgency in the restive Sinai Peninsula, where hundreds of soldiers and police have been killed since 2013 in attacks by militants that have also carried out attacks in the Nile Valley and elsewhere in the country. Northeastern Sinai has been a particularly volatile area in the region, on the border with Israel and the Gaza Strip. Egypt has been under a nationwide state of emergency since April 2017, when IS militants carried out attacks on two churches in Tanta and Alexandria, leaving over 50 people dead.

Advice

The security environment in Egypt remains complex. Although travel is permissible in some areas, other areas should be considered strictly off limits. Professional security advice and support should be sought prior to travel.