A car bomb nearly destroyed a police building in Mansoura, causing 14 dead. The prime minister accuses "terrorists" and says they will not stop the path to democracy. In January, there will be a referendum on the new constitution , drafted after the ouster of Morsi and the exclusion of the Muslim Brotherhood .

Cairo ( AsiaNews) - A massive explosion targeted a police building of public safety in Mansoura , north of the capital, leaving 14 dead and injuring more than 100 police officers.

The interim Prime Minister, Hazem Beblawi called the attack - caused by a car bomb - "an act of terrorism."

Violence against the security forces and the police are on the rise since the military overthrew President Mohamed Morsi last July. Usually, these attacks are carried out by Islamist militants linked to the Muslim Brotherhood , but are usually isolated to the Sinai Peninsula .

So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. According to Egyptian media, the spokesman for the prime minister, Sherif Showky , has accused the Muslim Brotherhood of being a "terrorist organization ." But in an official statement , Beblawi , spoke of "terrorism ," which " will not be able to stop the implementation of the roadmap to democracy", but did not mention anything about the Muslim Brotherhood .

The Islamist organization , for its part , condemned " in the strongest terms " the attack and criticized Beblawi for his accusations .

The terrorist act takes place just a few weeks before a referendum on the new constitution , seen as a key step toward democracy after the ouster of Morsi , which occurred after demonstrations of tens of millions of Egyptians opposed to the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Since then the organization has held multiple protests, which have led to riots , killings and arrests. Thousands of Islamists were killed and as many have ended up in prison, including the leaders.

 

• Egypt
• Muslim
• brotherhood
• attack
• police
• public
• security