Police officer assassinated in Sharqiya

A low-ranking police officer was assassinated in the northern governorate of Sharqiya on Tuesday, the Reuters-affiliated Aswat Masriya news website reported.

The officer, according to security officials, was killed in a drive by shooting, when unknown assailants on a motorcycle shot at him while he was guarding Abu Hammad police station. Security officials said that the area was cordoned for inspection.

The assassination comes one day after a daughter of a police officer and his friend were shot dead in Fayoum on Monday. Officer Sherif Samy was coming back from a wedding with his daughter Gessy and his friend Ramy Ahmed Kamel, when the officer’s car was attacked by unknown assailants. The attackers shot at the car, killing both the daughter and the friend.

A series of attacks against police and military personnel has taken place since the ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi. Many of these attacks have been claimed by the Sinai-based militant group and Islamic State affiliated Province of Sinai, as well as the Cairo-based group Ajnad Misr.

Sharqiya has been a focus for attacks against low-ranking officers since former President Mohamed Morsi was removed from power in 2013. In the last two and half years, dozens of low-ranking police officers have been killed in various attacks in Abu Kabir, Zagazig, Hehya, Qenayat, Abu Hammad and Kafr Saqr.

Several other Interior Ministry personnel have been killed since 2013. Mohamed Mabrouk, an officer in the National Security Agency (NSA), was assassinated in November 2013, while his colleague Mohamed Abu Shakra was killed in June of the same year. Former Deputy Interior Minister Mohamed al-Saeed was murdered in front of his home in Haram in January 2014. Ahmed Zaky, a Central Security Forces officer, was assassinated in a car bombing in April 2014 and Tarek al-Mergawy was killed in a Cairo University bombing in April 2014.