Police commander killed by Cairo car bomb

CAIRO, April 23 (UPI) -- An Egyptian police commander was killed Wednesday in a Cairo suburb by a bomb placed under his car, security officers said.

Brig. Gen. Ahmed Zaki, a high-ranking officer in Egypt’s central security force, died in the fifth attack this week targeting police. The security force is prominent in the crackdown on supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted in July 2013. Zaki was the third police general killed in attacks in 2014.

Ajnad Misr, an obscure militant group, took credit for the attack, and promised additional attacks in retaliation for the suppression. The most significant anti-authority attacks across Egypt have been carried out by the Ansar Beit al-Maqdis group, a jihadist offshoot of al-Qaida. Government figures indicate about 500, mostly soldiers and police officers, have been killed by Islamic militants since the military overthrew the Morsi regime. Amnesty International said over 1,400 people have been killed in the police crackdown, and over 15,000 Islamists have been jailed, many sentenced to death after quick trials.