CAIRO – Two gunmen on a motorbike killed a senior Egyptian Interior Ministry official outside his home in Cairo on Tuesday, security officials said, putting pressure on the military-backed government as it struggles to contain an Islamist insurgency. The death of General Mohamed Saeed, head of the technical office of the minister of interior, suggested militants were stepping up their campaign against the state at a delicate time in Egyptian politics. The Interior Ministry confirmed Saeed's killing. He was an aide to Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim, who survived an assassination attempt last year. Political violence has hit investment and tourism hard in Egypt, which is of strategic importance because of its peace treaty with Israel and control of the Suez Canal. Militant groups based in the largely lawless Sinai Peninsula have killed hundreds of police and soldiers since Morsi's downfall, but the Islamist insurgency appears to be taking root beyond the region that borders Israel and the Gaza Strip. Last week, six people were killed in a wave of bomb attacks targeting policemen in Cairo. And a Sinai-based militant group brought down an army helicopter with a missile, killing five soldiers. – Reuters
