A militant group, named the ‘Popular Resistance in Giza', released a two-minute video Sunday showing masked gunmen setting fire to a police checkpoint belonging to the Traffic Police department in Talbiya in Giza. The footage showed approximately 10 masked men gathering in front of the checkpoint. While some of the men fired birdshot rounds, others threw Molotov cocktails and flares at the entrance. The group's social media page posted a statement vowing to burn more police facilities. Since the beginning of the year, the group has been posting photos of its alleged members blocking main roads in different governorates, and torching police vans. The group also reports that they target "thugs" who allegedly participate in attacking and dispersing anti-government protests. Other targets of the group include communication towers, allegedly owned by telecommunications company Mobinil. Lately, the targeting of foreign companies, such as telecommunications companies and fast food chains has increased. Other targets were judges' cars, prosecution representatives, and police officers. Last week, bombs exploded in front of the Vodafone and Etisalat branches in Cairo's Mohandessin neighbourhood. The bombs left no injuries, although the shops were damaged. Recently, a number of Facebook pages were launched under the name "Popular Resistance", claiming similar strategies in different governorates, but there is no proof of coordination between the groups. The pages also claim to "monitor" police personnel, by publishing videos and pictures of officers on duty, and have claimed responsibility for planting improvised explosive devices in front of police stations. The rhetoric of the pages argues that the violence is a reaction to the alleged "crackdown" by the state.
