Police colonel and conscript killed in drive-by shooting in Giza

A police colonel and conscript were killed in a drive-by shooting in the Shouprament city of Giza, the Interior Ministry reported in an official statement on Saturday.

Two unidentified assailants shot Colonel Ali Ahmed Fahmy and soldier Mohamed Ramadan al-Bourhamy as they were in a police vehicle on their way to work from the colonel's farm, according to the state-owned Middle East News Agency.

An investigation into the incident is underway in order to ascertain who is responsible for the attack, the ministry asserted. 

The shooting comes amid a wave of targeted attacks on security forces and tourist sites. On Thursday, police forces stationed in front of the Three Pyramids Hotel in Haram Street, Giza, were targeted with fireworks and birdshot by 15 attackers, according to the ministry.

A group of tourists had just arrived at the hotel when the attack occurred, but none were injured, ministry spokesperson Abu Bakr Abdel Karim reported. The attack damaged the space in front of the hotel and a tourist bus in the area.

Another attack on a hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada on Friday night left three tourists injured. Two Austrians and one Swede were injured in a knife attack at the Bella Vista Hotel, the ministry reported in a statement, which added that the two armed assailants had been “neutralized” — one shot and the other wounded.