Egypt Vows 'Decisive' Steps after Deadly Raid


Egypt Vows 'Decisive' Steps after Deadly Raid

TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Egypt's interim government pledged "decisive" action and ordered heightened security after armed men killed six soldiers at a Cairo checkpoint.

The shooting on Saturday morning came two days after a soldier was killed in Cairo, as fighters once based in the Sinai Peninsula widen attacks that have surged after the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi last July.

The government is preparing for a presidential election this spring that will probably be contested and won by army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the field marshal who overthrew Mursi.

Sisi is expected to resign as defence minister and army chief and announce his candidacy this week, following the interim president's approval of a law to organise the poll.

His supporters see him as the best suited leader to restore stability and law and order amid persistent attacks and street protests by Mursi's mostly Islamist supporters.

In Saturday's attack, masked assailants opened fire on military policemen as they were finishing their morning Muslim prayers and then planted two bombs to target first responders, the military said in a statement.

The Health Ministry said six soldiers were killed, Al Jazeera reported.

Major-General Mahmoud Yousri, the chief of security of Qalubiya province, told the state news agency MENA that the attackers stormed the checkpoint early on Saturday in the Shubra al-Kheima suburb.

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