Armed assailants shot and killed two undercover policemen in the Upper Egypt governorate of Minya Monday morning. The two policemen were returning home from their shift on a motorcycle when they were intercepted by assailants who shot at them, then fled the scene, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement. After their death, they fell into a canal adjacent to the road, from which their bodies were later retrieved. Security forces are carrying out intensive efforts to stand on the circumstances of the incident and track down the perpetrators, the ministry said. A spokesman at the Ministry of Interior said that investigators were still working on unraveling the details of the case. The source did specify that the undercover policemen were working with an investigative unit of the police. Targeted attacks of policemen have become increasingly common throughout Egypt since Mohamed Morsi's 3 July ouster. Rural Upper Egypt has seen a notable amount of violence against security forces, but the frequency of attacks has paled in comparison to Cairo and the Sinai Peninsula. More than a dozen police officers have been killed in drive-by attacks in the Nile Delta governorate of Sarqeya alone. Almost all of the attacks are perpetrated by armed attackers on motorcycles, striking police officers on their way home from work.
