Masked gunmen shot National Security officer Major Mohamed Eid Saturday as he was on his way to his car. Eid was rushed to a hospital but died from his injuries shortly thereafter. The officer's death was confirmed by a Ministry of Interior statement, which added that Major Eid was shot by "two unknown persons" around 4pm Saturday. Investigators added that Eid was on his way home from work when he was struck down by the gunmen, who managed to escape. The interior ministry's statement added that efforts to prosecute the perpetrators are being intensified. State-owned Al-Ahram reported interim Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi as saying that the shooting, the fourth of its kind this week in Sharqeya, reflects "the bankruptcy of terrorist elements". Thursday saw an attack in Sharqeya that killed one policeman and injured three others. Also in Sharqeya governorate, an Egyptian army officer was shot in the neck in a drive-by shooting. Attacks against security forces have been on the rise after Mohamed Morsi's ouster on 3 July. A number of high profile interior ministry officers have been assassinated recently. Officer Mohamed Mabrouk, in charge of the counterterrorism file at Homeland Security, was assassinated on 17 September 2013. General Mohamed Al-Saied, head of the minister of interior's technical office and an aide to Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim, was shot dead outside his home in Haram on 28 January. Ibrahim survived an assassination attempt on 5 September 2013. Twenty-two people were wounded in the attack.
