Turkey strongly condemns Egypt’s Friday terrorist attack in Haram

Turkey strongly condemned the Friday terrorist attacks in Egypt’s heavily-populated Haram district which killed six policemen and injured three others, a Turkish foreign affairs statement read.

The statement conveyed the Turkish “condolences to the friendly people of Egypt,” and wished a speedy recovery to the wounded.

A little-known Egyptian militant group called “Hasm” (“Resolve”) claimed responsibility for the bomb attack on the security checkpoint.

The “Hasm” group has claimed a number of attacks on police checkpoints in the past couple of months.

Attacks against security forces have become common in recent years but are concentrated in North Sinai, where Egypt’s army and police are battling an entrenched Islamist insurgency.

Relationships between Egypt and Turkey have been strained since Ankara emerged as one of the most vocal opponents of the Egyptian authorities following the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi—a close ally of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Source: Ahram Online