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2 bombs defused at hotel in Giza Security forces were notified of suspicious packages outside the hotel, and quickly sent bomb squads to inspect them. The forces cordoned off the area before discovering the IEDs and successfully defusing them
Police bomb squads defused Tuesday two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the Haram district of Giza, according to state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper. Security forces were notified of suspicious packages outside the hotel, and quickly sent bomb squads to inspect them. The forces cordoned off the area before discovering the IEDs and successfully defusing them. Head of Giza security ordered a report to be filed to the prosecution to investigate the incident. There has been an increase in violent attacks in urban areas in Egypt, including shootings and explosions. Last month, militants killed two tourist police officers near the Giza Pyramids in a drive-by shooting. About a week later, militants attempted a suicide attack on the Karnak temple in Luxor, with the bomb detonating prematurely, killing its carrier. Two other militants engaged in a shootout with security forces, resulting in one being killed and the other injured and taken into custody. On Saturday, a bomb exploded outside the Italian consulate in central Cairo, killing one and injuring several others. Last month, Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat was assassinated in a car explosion in the Heliopolis district of Cairo. His death was the first of a top Egyptian state official since 1990. The government has been battling an insurgency, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula, since early 2011, shortly after the overthrow of former dictator Hosni Mubarak in a popular revolt. Meanwhile, military forces killed Monday a militant in the region, and arrested another as part of ongoing efforts to rid the area of Islamist insurgents. The incident occurred during a shootout, while the military pursued a truck carrying the militants, who were reportedly armed with heavy weaponry and a large amount of ammunition. Extremist group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has claimed much of the attacks on security forces in Sinai, and rebranded itself "State of Sinai" after pledging allegiance to the regional radical group "Islamic State". Attacks however, have increasingly spread from North Sinai to urban areas, including the capital. They appear to have peaked with the assassination of Barakat.
