ISIS strikes in Cairo: 8 policemen killed

Eight Egyptian policemen were killed on Sunday, whilst conducting security checks.

According to reports confirmed by the country’s interior minister, four gun-wielding men shot at police officers dressed in plain clothes in the district of Helwan, south of Cairo.

The four attackers pulled alongside the victims’ government minivan and started shooting with automatic weapons before fleeing, the ministry said.

The local branch of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

ISIS claims responsibility for shooting dead all 8 Egyptian plainclothes police in this minivan in Cairo, Egypt: pic.twitter.com/pkqPL0cpQ6

— Conflict Reporter (@WarReporter1) May 8, 2016

In an Arabic-language statement, ISIS said the Helwan attack was part of its Abi Ali Al-Anbari campaign, which has seen the group carry out a series of bombings and other attacks in Iraq. The statement also said the attack was aimed at avenging women held in Egyptian jails, but gave no details.

“Three masked and armed men with automatic machine guns, fired towards the police vehicle. The police did not respond, nobody resisted, they all died in their cars.”

Over a hundred policemen have been killed by ISIS in Egypt. The spate of attacks has rapidly increased since the ousting of the democratically elected President, Mohamed Morsi.

The Egyptian army meanwhile claims to have killed about 1,000 jihadists.