Five Egyptian Police Officers Killed

[Chocolate Eclair]

Rueters are reporting that 5 Egyptian Police Officers have been killed in an attack on a check point in South Egypt.

[Bearded Brian]

CAIRO (Reuters) - Masked gunmen riding motorcycles killed five Egyptian policemen in an attack on a checkpoint south of Cairo on Thursday, the Interior Ministry said.

The attack in the province of Beni Suef, 100 km (62 miles) south of Cairo, was carried out by men riding two motorcycles, a ministry statement said.

"They opened fire heavily on the forces at the checkpoint," the statement said. Two policemen were wounded.

Bombings and shootings targeting security forces have become commonplace since Islamist President Mohamed Mursi was deposed by the army last July after mass protests against his rule.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The state has declared itself in a war on terror, and declared Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group on December 25. The Brotherhood has said it remains committed to peaceful activism.

(Reporting by Maggie Fick; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Nick Macfie)

[carrie]

South of Cairo not in the south of Egypt. There seems to be a lot of trouble in Beni Suef

[Remus]

And not just Beni Suef - trouble from there right through
'middle' Egypt down to Qena.

[Glyphdoctor]

Middle Egypt is a term used primarily in English, not in Arabic. Beni Suef is in Upper Egypt and is considered to be the south, unlike the Delta governorates which are the north.

[Chocolate Eclair]

Sorry GD, Reuters only said Southern Egypt, so the presumption was Upper Egypt.

[Glyphdoctor]

I was responding to Carrie and Remus who suggest that south of Cairo didn't mean Upper Egypt or southern Egypt.

[Dusak]

Another cowardly attack against those that are just trying to do their job and keep things safe[ish] and stable for us all.

[Remus]

GD: Thank you so much for your correction.
The word 'middle' was in inverted commas, because
geographically that's more or less where it is. Anyway,
Egypt is divided into Lower and Upper, not 'southern'.
Please don't waste your valuable time.

[Brian Yare]

Some definitions of Middle Egypt that I have seen include Cairo.

Southern is relative. The reporter was probably Cairo-based so correct in his own world.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Wherever - still a very dastardly and cowardly act that robbed 5 of their lives whilst doing their jobs.

[Goddess]

Can't believe we have to bicker about the borderline so we can push another attack into someone else's territory.

[Bombay]

The first order of the new government should be a heavy crackdown on motorbikes they are being used in too much crime and iirc nearly all of the shootings including the church in Cairo.

[Chocolate Eclair]

Everyday Motorbikes can be seen being carted away from East Bank Checkpoints throughout Luxor, its only the West Bank that seems to encourage people to ride unlicensed untaxed motorbikes. So it's easy for those on the WB to get away with. Don't think there will ever be a crackdown on the West Bank.