Egypt Ready for New Crackdown After Soldiers Gunned Down in Cairo
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creisinger/Thinkstock(CAIRO) — Egypt is on a heightened security alert following the shooting deaths of six soldiers at a Cairo checkpoint Saturday.
The unknown assailants gunned down the soldiers and then planted bombs to kill first responders. However, bomb disposal experts managed to diffuse the explosives before they could be detonated.
Insurgents opposing the interim government set up following the ouster last July of President Mohammed Morsi have generally targeted Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula.
However, with elections to choose a new government this spring, it’s expected that militants will intensify their efforts to disrupt the vote in Cairo and other major Egyptian cities.
Officials with the interim government blame members of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood for instigating the violence.
Meanwhile, it’s expected that Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s de facto leader, will resign from the military this week to announce his candidacy for president.
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