Bombing kills two in Egypt's Alexandria, targets security chief
Bomb placed under a car targeted police chief in the city, Maj. Gen. Mostafa al-Nemr, who was driving by when it went off; policeman, driver killed, four other policemen hurt.
CAIRO - A bomb placed under a car exploded in Egypt's second city Alexandria on Saturday, killing two people including a policeman, state news agency MENA reported.
The bombing, which also wounded four policemen, had targeted Alexandria's security chief police Maj. Gen. Mustafa al-Nemr, the interior ministry said.
Al-Nemr survived the explosion and he was seen on a local TV channel in good condition while inspecting the area of the blast in the vicinity of a police station in the central district of Roshdi shortly after it took place.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the explosion. Islamic State released a video last month in which it warned Egyptians against taking part in the upcoming vote and urged Islamists to attack security forces and leaders.
MENA quoted Nemr as saying that two people, a policeman and a driver, were killed in the blast.
Photos on social media that Reuters could not independently verify showed a burnt out car and smoke at the site of the blast.
"On Saturday March 24 an explosive device planted underneath a car exploded ... as the Alexandria security chief drove by," the interior ministry statement said.
Eyewitnesses said police and military personnel had formed a perimeter around the site of the explosion, which took place two days before the country is due to hold a presidential election.
MENA said the public prosecutor ordered an investigation into the incident.
Islamic State attempted to assassinate Egypt's defense and interior ministers in December during a trip the pair made to the Sinai Peninsula, where the hardline militant group has been waging an insurgency for almost five years.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Friday that Islamic State militants would soon be defeated in the Sinai as he visited troops battling the jihadists there.
Polls will open on Monday when voters choose between Sisi and one little-known candidate who supports the former field marshal. All credible opponents dropped out in January, citing intimidation by the authorities after the main challenger was jailed.
Sisi's critics say he has cracked down harshly on dissent and that tough economic reforms have eroded his popularity. Supporters say such measures are needed to stabilize Egypt, which was rocked by years of unrest after protests toppled veteran leader Hosni Mubarak in 2011.
As military commander, Sisi led the ousting of Egypt's only competitively-elected leader, President Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was toppled amid demonstrations against his rule in 2013, a year after taking power. Sisi took office with a landslide election victory a year later.
State news agency MENA blamed the Brotherhood, which is now banned in Egypt and designated a terrorist group, for Saturday's bombing.
"This attempt comes in the context of terrorist Muslim Brotherhood elements trying to disrupt the electoral process and influence citizens into not going to the polls and participating in the presidential election," the agency said.
Islamic State and other militant groups have successfully assassinated officials in recent years. Islamic State bombed a hotel in Sinai in 2015 during a parliamentary election, killing seven people including two judges overseeing the vote.
Egypt's top public prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, was killed by a car bomb in June 2015.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
