Cairo: Unidentified gunmen on Saturday shot dead a senior Egyptian army officer outside his house near Cairo, security sources said.
The assailants opened fire at Brigadier Adel Rajai as he left his house in the suburban quarter of Al Obour and killed him along with his driver, the sources added. His bodyguard was also injured.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Rajai was the commander of an army armoured division.
He had served for years in North Sinai, where the army is pursuing a high-profile campaign against Islamist extremists.
Rajai’s wife told semi-official Al Ahram Online that he had been killed by three “terrorists” after they shot him from their car. No arrests were reported.
Saturday’s assault comes more than a week after 12 Egyptian soldiers were killed in troubled North Sinai in an attack claimed by militants linked to Daesh.
The army has since intensified air strikes against suspected extremists in the area, seen as a hotbed for hardline insurgents.
The army said its troops had destroyed 24 militant shelters and killed 21 “terrorists” on Friday in North Sinai.
Egyptian security forces, mainly in Sinai, have been the target of deadly attacks since mid-2013 when the army deposed Islamist president Mohammad Mursi following mass protests against his rule.
