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| Egypt’s Interior Minister Survives Assassination Attempt | Egypt’s Interior Minister Survives Assassination Attempt |
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| CAIRO — A powerful bomb blasted through a convoy of cars carrying the interior minister along a residential street on Thursday, raising fears of a widely predicted turn toward terrorist violence by opponents of the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. | CAIRO — A powerful bomb blasted through a convoy of cars carrying the interior minister along a residential street on Thursday, raising fears of a widely predicted turn toward terrorist violence by opponents of the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi. |
| The minister escaped and so did his would-be assassins. But the explosion killed at least one police officer, injured 10 others and wounded at least 11 civilians, according to an official statement from the Interior Ministry. Speaking independently, Gen. Osama al-Soghayar, security chief for Cairo, put the number of civilians injured far higher, at more than 60. | The minister escaped and so did his would-be assassins. But the explosion killed at least one police officer, injured 10 others and wounded at least 11 civilians, according to an official statement from the Interior Ministry. Speaking independently, Gen. Osama al-Soghayar, security chief for Cairo, put the number of civilians injured far higher, at more than 60. |
| A police officer, a 7-year-old child and others lost legs or other limbs in the explosion, ministry officials, medics and witnesses said. Neighbors said they found pieces of flesh scattered in the street as far as 150 feet from the explosion. “We started collecting the carnage,” said Mahmoud Saed, 22, a salesman. “I saw a leg, some toes, then another leg, and some burned bits and pieces.” | A police officer, a 7-year-old child and others lost legs or other limbs in the explosion, ministry officials, medics and witnesses said. Neighbors said they found pieces of flesh scattered in the street as far as 150 feet from the explosion. “We started collecting the carnage,” said Mahmoud Saed, 22, a salesman. “I saw a leg, some toes, then another leg, and some burned bits and pieces.” |
| No one claimed responsibility. The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group leading protests against the military’s removal of President Morsi, its ally, denounced the attack. But Egyptians across the political spectrum reacted with grim anticipation, convinced that the assassination attempt marked a return to the kind of violent Islamist insurgency that erupted here in the 1990s. | No one claimed responsibility. The Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group leading protests against the military’s removal of President Morsi, its ally, denounced the attack. But Egyptians across the political spectrum reacted with grim anticipation, convinced that the assassination attempt marked a return to the kind of violent Islamist insurgency that erupted here in the 1990s. |
| “What happened today is not the end but the beginning,” Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim told reporters. It is “a new wave of terrorism,” he said. | “What happened today is not the end but the beginning,” Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim told reporters. It is “a new wave of terrorism,” he said. |
| Since the July 3 ouster of Mr. Morsi, the nation’s first democratically elected president, Islamists have warned that the theft of their electoral victories would lead some in their ranks to give up on the democratic process and resort to violence, just as some did in the 1990s. And weeks ago, even before there was much evidence of such a turn, the new government installed by Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi began portraying its crackdown on the Brotherhood and other Morsi supporters as a mortal struggle against “terrorism.” | Since the July 3 ouster of Mr. Morsi, the nation’s first democratically elected president, Islamists have warned that the theft of their electoral victories would lead some in their ranks to give up on the democratic process and resort to violence, just as some did in the 1990s. And weeks ago, even before there was much evidence of such a turn, the new government installed by Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi began portraying its crackdown on the Brotherhood and other Morsi supporters as a mortal struggle against “terrorism.” |
| Since security forces killed more than 600 protesters while breaking up two pro-Morsi sit-ins three weeks ago, Interior Ministry officials have blamed his supporters for killing 117 members of their own police force. Of these, at least 43 were killed in street fighting with protesters at the sit-ins, where at least a few had guns. Scores of police officers have been killed by militants in the relatively lawless Sinai, including two dozen killed in one strike last month. And perhaps as many two dozen others were killed in drive-by shootings or scattered attacks elsewhere. Several were executed in an attack at a police station in Giza, across the Nile from Cairo. | Since security forces killed more than 600 protesters while breaking up two pro-Morsi sit-ins three weeks ago, Interior Ministry officials have blamed his supporters for killing 117 members of their own police force. Of these, at least 43 were killed in street fighting with protesters at the sit-ins, where at least a few had guns. Scores of police officers have been killed by militants in the relatively lawless Sinai, including two dozen killed in one strike last month. And perhaps as many two dozen others were killed in drive-by shootings or scattered attacks elsewhere. Several were executed in an attack at a police station in Giza, across the Nile from Cairo. |
| Thursday’s attack, however, was of a different order, both in the scale and sophistication of the bomb and also in the willingness to kill and maim civilians. | Thursday’s attack, however, was of a different order, both in the scale and sophistication of the bomb and also in the willingness to kill and maim civilians. |
| Ministry officials said they believed that the would-be assassins had planted a large improvised explosive device along the minister’s route from his home in the neighborhood of Nasr City. Then, around 10 a.m., they remotely detonated the bomb just as his car was passing within feet of the device, officials said. (Later, security officials said they were also considering the possibility that a suicide bomber had set it off.) | |
| The minister himself was pulled from his damaged car, specially fortified for his protection, and whisked away in an armored personnel carrier. At least nine cars were badly damaged, some virtually incinerated. A blackened hatchback that bore the brunt of the blast had been peeled open like a can of sardines. The explosion tore the facades off the bottom three floors of two apartment buildings, and even on the other side of the wide boulevard the force shattered the glass doors of refrigerators in vendors’ kiosks. One vendor was hospitalized with shrapnel wounds to his shoulders and chest. | |
| Ahmed Sarhan, 51, a taxi driver, said a policeman had stopped his car at the intersection to let the minister’s convoy go by. A moment later, the explosion lifted one car high in the air, destroyed the vehicle in front of the minister’s, and tore a leg off the nearby policeman. | Ahmed Sarhan, 51, a taxi driver, said a policeman had stopped his car at the intersection to let the minister’s convoy go by. A moment later, the explosion lifted one car high in the air, destroyed the vehicle in front of the minister’s, and tore a leg off the nearby policeman. |
| “There were two women standing by the cab,” Mr. Sarhan said. “I am sure they are dead.” | “There were two women standing by the cab,” Mr. Sarhan said. “I am sure they are dead.” |
| Investors had assumed that such violence was coming. The Egyptian stock market held steady after the attack and ended the day ahead. | |
| Mr. Ibrahim, the target of the attack, is singularly reviled by Mr. Morsi’s Islamist supporters as a kind of triple traitor. He was a senior ministry official under Hosni Mubarak, the former president, and then accepted a promotion to interior minister under Mr. Morsi, pledging loyalty to Egypt’s first elected government. | Mr. Ibrahim, the target of the attack, is singularly reviled by Mr. Morsi’s Islamist supporters as a kind of triple traitor. He was a senior ministry official under Hosni Mubarak, the former president, and then accepted a promotion to interior minister under Mr. Morsi, pledging loyalty to Egypt’s first elected government. |
| But during the wave of anti-Brotherhood violence that preceded the military takeover, Mr. Ibrahim refused to protect the group or Mr. Morsi. And now Mr. Ibrahim has held onto his post as minister under the government that ousted Mr. Morsi. In fact, Mr. Ibrahim has overseen the killing of hundreds of Morsi supporters. | But during the wave of anti-Brotherhood violence that preceded the military takeover, Mr. Ibrahim refused to protect the group or Mr. Morsi. And now Mr. Ibrahim has held onto his post as minister under the government that ousted Mr. Morsi. In fact, Mr. Ibrahim has overseen the killing of hundreds of Morsi supporters. |
| On Thursday, General Sisi, who ousted Mr. Morsi, sent the interior minister a telegram blaming “terrorists” for the assassination attempt. The general called the attack “sinful” and “treacherous,” the military said in a statement on its Web page. | On Thursday, General Sisi, who ousted Mr. Morsi, sent the interior minister a telegram blaming “terrorists” for the assassination attempt. The general called the attack “sinful” and “treacherous,” the military said in a statement on its Web page. |
| Amr Darrag, a senior official of the Brotherhood, said the group “strongly condemns” the assassination attempt. “The bombing should be condemned, irrespective of the perpetrators,” he said in a statement relayed over the Al Jazeera television network. “We reaffirm our peaceful approach, which is clear in all our protests.” | Amr Darrag, a senior official of the Brotherhood, said the group “strongly condemns” the assassination attempt. “The bombing should be condemned, irrespective of the perpetrators,” he said in a statement relayed over the Al Jazeera television network. “We reaffirm our peaceful approach, which is clear in all our protests.” |
| A coalition led by the Brotherhood has called for another day of street protests against the takeover on Friday, which would be the 10th Friday of such demonstrations since Mr. Morsi’s ouster. They have been increasingly contained by security forces, with fewer and fewer clashes. | A coalition led by the Brotherhood has called for another day of street protests against the takeover on Friday, which would be the 10th Friday of such demonstrations since Mr. Morsi’s ouster. They have been increasingly contained by security forces, with fewer and fewer clashes. |
| But despite the group’s repeated professions of nonviolence, several bystanders in the area around the blast blamed the Brotherhood and other Islamists. “These people would destroy Egypt,” said Mustapha Ali, 41, a warehouse worker who ran toward the blast. “They should be hung in a public square.” | But despite the group’s repeated professions of nonviolence, several bystanders in the area around the blast blamed the Brotherhood and other Islamists. “These people would destroy Egypt,” said Mustapha Ali, 41, a warehouse worker who ran toward the blast. “They should be hung in a public square.” |
| Another woman shouted at an American journalist: “You have to convince Obama we are in a fight against terrorism!” | Another woman shouted at an American journalist: “You have to convince Obama we are in a fight against terrorism!” |
| The new government, for its part, pledged to redouble its hard line against “terrorists,” its preferred term for Mr. Morsi’s Islamist supporters. In a statement to the state media, the interim president, Adly Mansour, recalled the Islamist insurgency that was crushed by President Mubarak more than a decade ago. The government “will not allow the terrorism that was defeated by the Egyptian people in the 1980s and 1990s to show its ugly face once more,” the statement declared. | The new government, for its part, pledged to redouble its hard line against “terrorists,” its preferred term for Mr. Morsi’s Islamist supporters. In a statement to the state media, the interim president, Adly Mansour, recalled the Islamist insurgency that was crushed by President Mubarak more than a decade ago. The government “will not allow the terrorism that was defeated by the Egyptian people in the 1980s and 1990s to show its ugly face once more,” the statement declared. |
Kareem Fahim contributed reporting. | Kareem Fahim contributed reporting. |