Three policemen were injured on Sunday in Egypt's Damietta while attempting to defuse one of two explosive devices, the Ministry of Interior said. The explosives were in a bag that was discarded by two suspects who fled when police attempted to stop them for "suspicious behaviour," according to a ministry statement. Explosive specialists were able to defuse one of the devices before the second exploded, injuring three of the policemen. In August, two Egyptian security personnel were shot dead in an attack on a checkpoint in the Nile Delta governorate of Menoufiya. Over the past few years, improvised explosive devices have often been used by Islamist militants to target security forces. While attacks have almost exclusively been focused in North Sinai, violence has also reached other areas of Egypt, including the capital. Hundreds of security forces as well as militants have been killed in the conflict.
