CAIRO: Egypt's interim government pledged “decisive” action and ordered heightened security on Sunday after gunmen killed six soldiers at a Cairo checkpoint, as the countdown began to presidential elections this spring.
The shooting on Saturday morning came two days after gunmen killed a soldier in Cairo, as militants once based in the Sinai Peninsula widen attacks that surged after the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last July.
The government is preparing for a presidential election this spring that will likely be contested and won by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the field marshal who overthrew Morsi. Sisi is expected to resign as defence minister and army chief and announce his candidacy this week, following the interim president's approval of a law to organise the poll.
