Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised, in a televised speech on Monday, to retaliate for the two police officers who were killed while trying to defuse makeshift bombs planted near the presidential palace in Cairo.
Three bombs exploded earlier on Monday, leaving two people killed and 13 wounded, the Health Ministry said.
The blasts came to mark the first anniversary of the June 30 protests that led to the military’s ouster of President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood last year.
“We lost new martyrs today, we pray to God that they rest in peace,” Sisi said, adding that the state will retaliate for them quickly.
He stressed upon the importance of confronting “black terrorism” and said that there would be “deterring legislation to counter any attacks targeting the nation.”
A militant group that calls itself Ajnad Misr had warned that they planted bombs in the same area to target security forces. They said they were forced to suspend their mission due to concerns that civilians would be hurt.
The newly elected president, who was in charge of the military during Morsi’s ouster, said that there would be a general framework for the government to work within that is based on transparency and hard work.