A series of explosions outside Itihadiya Palace in Heliopolis on Monday morning killed two police explosives experts and injured other policemen, according to the Ministry of Interior. Colonel Ahmed Amin Al-Ashmawy, an explosives expert at the Ministry of Interior, was killed when he and a team of police attempted to diffuse two devices. Other bomb disposal personnel and police were injured when one of the devices exploded, said the ministry in a statement. The other device was diffused successfully. Another bomb exploded an hour after the first explosion injuring another policeman, according to state owned Al-Ahram. A third explosion killed explosives expert Mohamed Lotfy, who was also diffusing an explosive device, according to state television. Police cordoned off the surrounding area and began conducting a search following the first explosion "in anticipation of the presence of other containers", said the ministry statement. Last week, militant group Agnad Misr warned people to stay away from the intersection of El-Merghany Street and Al-Ahram Street outside the Presidential Palace. The group had pledged to place two explosive devices at the stated location. In a statement released on Monday, the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) condemned the series of explosions, describing it as a "villainous terrorist attack". They also called for the arrest of the perpetrators and for them to receive "the maximum punishment". EOHR acknowledged Agnad Misr's warning, saying the aim was to disrupt the "celebrations of 30 June demonstrations", which led to the armed forces giving former Presisdent Mohamed Morsi a 48-hour ultimatum to come up with a reconciliation plan. On 3 July Morsi was removed from office. The rights group also called for increased security "in all vital areas and important installations to the memory of 30 June" and for security patrols.
