Egyptian Policemen Shot Dead Near Giza Pyramids

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Egyptian Policemen Shot Dead Near Giza Pyramids

Post by Winged Isis »

Egyptian policemen shot dead near Giza Pyramids
Date
June 4, 2015 - 4:28PM

Cairo: In an unusual daytime attack near Egypt's most visible tourist attraction, gunmen shot and killed two police officers on Wednesday, a few hundred metres from the pyramids of Giza, security officials said.

Tourism is a vital source of foreign currency for the government of President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

The years of political upheaval that followed the 2011 uprising against dictator Hosni Mubarak have sent tourism revenues plummeting to record lows, but the government has recently said that the industry was rebounding.

The gunmen, on a motorcycle, fired at the officers at a security checkpoint on the road leading to the pyramids, according to General Mohammed Farouk, the head of the Giza investigations department. A third officer was wounded, he said.

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Militant attacks targeting members of the state's security forces have become frequent in Egypt over the past two years, a consequence of the violent turmoil that followed the military overthrow of the democratically elected government in 2013.

But Wednesday's shooting appeared to be the first so close to one of Egypt's heavily guarded tourism sites.

A statement by the Egyptian Embassy in Washington issued a day before the shooting highlighted figures that the embassy said showed a doubling of tourism revenues during the first half of the current fiscal year over the comparable period in the previous fiscal year, and a surge in visitors from the United States - after years in which US tourists largely avoided Egypt.

"Political stability has returned a sense of safety and normalcy to Egypt, and as a result, tourists are coming back to experience several millennia of ancient cultural heritage and breathtaking geography," the statement said.

Egyptian officials have portrayed a continuing militant insurgency as largely contained to a portion of the Sinai Peninsula that is all but sealed off by the military. But the militants have shown a continued ability to conduct devastating, large-scale assaults on Egyptian soldiers, while carrying out smaller, semi regular attacks in Cairo and other cities.

Egypt's public fight against the militants has helped ease its strained relations with Western allies troubled by Mr Sisi's crackdown on Islamists and other political opponents.

On Wednesday, in a sign of the warming ties, Mr Sisi made his first official visit to Germany, despite criticism of his human rights record by German MPs.

The critics include the speaker of the parliament, Norbert Lammert, who called off his planned meeting with Mr Sisi before his arrival, citing "systematic persecution" of opposition groups with mass arrests and an "incredible number" of death sentences handed down by Egyptian courts.

In a joint appearance with Mr Sisi, Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasised that Germany opposed the death penalty, saying: "Under no circumstances, even with regard to terrorist activities, should people be sentenced to death".

She also stressed, however, the need to keep talking to countries like Egypt, noting its prominent role in the fight against terrorism. Highlighting Egypt's importance to German business interests as well, Siemens, the German industrial giant, announced Wednesday that it had signed a $US9 billion ($11.5 billion) order - its largest ever - to supply Egypt with wind power and natural gas plants.

New York Times


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Re: Egyptian Policemen Shot Dead Near Giza Pyramids

Post by Major Thom »

I think its going to be hard to keep these militants/terrorists under control, we can only rely on our Security services to do their work properly. Its hard for them and they cannot be everywhere, and from time to time these stupid people who are hell bent on destroying Egypt will get through the net and we have to expect it. But like Europe we should not let these people stop us from doing what we would normally do in our daily lives.
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