Gunmen armed with machineguns attacked a police patrol in Cairo, killing three policemen and wounding five before fleeing the scene of the late night drive-by shooting, Egypt's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday. The ministry said the attack took place in the neighborhood of Nasr City where gunmen in two cars approached the patrol and opened fire at the policemen. The statement said two of the three policemen killed had the rank of captain. The patrol exchanged fire with the attackers, the ministry said but did not specify how many assailants were involved or if any of them were wounded. An investigation is underway, it said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the brazen attack in the Egyptian capital. Apart from the extremist Daesh (the so-called IS) group, the shadowy Hasm, or "Decisiveness" — a lesser militant group the government suspects is linked to the banned Muslim Brotherhood — has carried out similar assaults in the past. The IS-led insurgency is centered mainly in the restive, northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, but militants have occasionally struck farther south and also on the mainland — such as in last month's massive suicide bombings in Tanta and in Alexandria. Both attacks were claimed by the Daesh group. Monday's drive-by attack came two days after Pope Francis wrapped up a historic visit to Egypt during which security was exceptionally tight, with police swarming Cairo's streets, particularly around the Vatican Embassy in the upscale neighborhood on the Nile River island of Zamalek and elsewhere where the pontiff visited. The Hasm group has claimed several previous attacks in Cairo, usually targeting police positions and patrols. Its other attacks included a shooting against the country's former chief Muslim theologian and a car bombing against the deputy of the chief prosecutor. Both escaped unharmed. — AP
