Security forces id remains of men killed in Giza car bombing, says MOI

Security forces have identified the remains of three men who died when a car bomb accidentally detonated in Giza’s Al-Shorafa village early Wednesday morning, the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported on Thursday.

The men were en route to “commit hostile actions” against the Shorafa police station and the city council building, according to Interior Ministry spokesperson Hany Abdel Latif. He identified the alleged assailants as a 23-year-old engineering student, a 27-year-old painter and a 34-year-old driver who all belonged to the banned Muslim Brotherhood group.

However, in a 5-hour interrogation conducted by the general prosecution, the families of the suspects insisted their sons were innocent victims and an unknown assailant had placed the bomb in the car.

The prosecution’s investigation into the incident suggested the explosive device accidentally went off when the men drove their white Mazda car over a large road bump.

Two high-impact explosive devices had been in the car, as opposed to the crude homemade bombs often used in attacks on police and military sites, according to the prosecutor’s report. The sound of the explosion was heard as far as 15 km away, the prosecution said, all windows in the perimeter of the bombing were shattered, and the remains of the victims were scattered in a 60 meter radius.

General Intelligence Services and the National Security apparatus have both requested copies of the prosecution’s report, said the privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm (AMAY), which includes the testimony of the only eyewitness to the explosion and interviews with the families of the deceased.

An unnamed judiciary source told AMAY that the Intelligence Services were looking into the bombing due to discovery of purported Al-Qaeda flags and unidentified chemicals at a house the men rented nearly two months before the incident. The general prosecutor has placed the house under intensified security and ordered an examination of the chemicals in question.

Security forces had also apprehended another car loaded with explosives on Wednesday morning nearby the bomb site. Police suspect the driver was planning to execute another terrorist attack.

Also on Thursday, the Interior Ministry apprehended a 43-year-old teacher and a 24-year-old university student suspected of planning an attack on the main electricity tower in the Giza town of Al-Saff. The suspects were reportedly detained in possession of a 22 mm revolver and manual and electric saws.