Egypt’s official news agency says the country’s state prosecutor has died of wounds sustained in a bomb attack on his convoy in a Cairo suburb. Since then, no other terror group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.
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At the hospital, a bruised bodyguard recounted to prosecutors how the explosion hit Barakat’s convoy as it headed to his office.
As one of the nation’s most prominent judicial officials, Barakat was a focal point for militant groups vowing retaliation for the death sentences handed down against senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, including Morsi, and for the executions of imprisoned militants.
Security forces cordoned off the area to search for any further explosives.
ISIL’s affiliate in Egypt had called for attacks on the judiciary following the hanging of six alleged militants.
The group, thought to be close to Morsi’s banned Muslim Brotherhood movement, has previously claimed small bomb attacks in the capital. Zakariya Abdel Aziz, an assistant public prosecutor, said it was an assassination attempt.
Official Egyptian daily al-Ahram reported that the attack took place outside Cairo’s military college and that Barakat had been taken to a nearby hospital where his condition was “still being investigated”.
Footage from the scene of the blast showed cars charred and wrecked from the explosion, as black smoke rose from the site. “When I felt it I said to my family, this is it, death has come for us”, said 17-year-old Khaled Youssef. Now, it calls itself the Islamic State group’s Sinai Province and has claimed most of Egypt’s major suicide bombings and assassinations.
The White House issued a statement denouncing the attack.
Kill of judges Human rights organisations have accused the judiciary of staging political trials of government opponents, whether Brotherhood-connected or secular activists. But some of Egypt’s judges have drawn accusations of blatant bias by handing down lengthy jail terms and mass death sentences against Islamists.
A presidential spokesman told MENA that the interior ministry would increase security measures ahead of the June 30 anniversary of the toppling of Morsi, including heightening the alert level and reinforcing security at vital installations.
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Monday’s attack may be linked to Ansar Beit Al Maqdis, the militant group based in the Sinai that has pledged allegiance to ISIL, said Roshanna Lawrence, regional intelligence manager for the Middle East and North Africa at geopolitical risk consultancy Max Security Solutions. Five guards, two drivers and one civilian also were injured in the blast.
