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1st LD: 2 killed in car bomb explosion near Giza police station in Egypt

Xinhua, July 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Two people were killed on Tuesday as two explosive devices in their vehicle went off near a police station in October Six district in Giza province near the capital Cairo, official MENA news agency reported.

"The two men driving the car were burnt to death and the bomb-disposal team is currently examining the vehicle and making sure there are no more explosive devices," MENA quoted a security source as saying.

The blast came one day after the assassination of Egypt's Prosecutor General Hesham Barakat in a car bombing in Cairo, and it coincides with the second anniversary of June 30 mass protests that led to the overthrow of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in mid-2013.

In response to the top prosecutor's murder, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi vowed on Tuesday amendments of criminal procedure laws to make trials of arrested Islamists and suspect terrorist much faster, pledging retaliation for Barakat's death.

Also on Tuesday, at least three militants were killed and ten others were arrested during security raids in Arish and Sheikh Zuweid cities of Egypt's restive North Sinai, as security sources in the peninsula told Xinhua.

The extremists are believed to be loyalists of the Sinai-based, al-Qaida-inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) militant group, which has changed its name to "Sinai State" and vowed loyalty to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group.

Terrorist activities mounted in Egypt since Morsi's ouster by the army in July 2013 and the following security crackdown on his loyalists that left over 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested.

On the other hand, hundreds of police and army personnel were killed in attacks carried out by extremists and self-proclaimed Islamists since Morsi's removal.

In its annual report released in late May, Egypt's National Council for Human Rights said that the violence since Morsi's removal has resulted in the death of 2,600 people, including 700 police and army men, 550 civilians and 1,250 Brotherhood members and supporters. Endit