Egyptian government condemned the attack and accused countries, which it did not name, of being responsible for the terrorist bombing that took place on Saturday in the city of Alexandria.
Prime Minister Sherif Ismail indicated that such a terrorist act would not affect the election beginning on Monday.
“These desperate attempts by the forces of terrorism and the states that back it to affect the positive atmosphere the country is witnessing will only increase the Egyptian state’s resolve to complete its political process and economic progress,” he stressed.
On Saturday, an explosive device left under a car blew up as police Major General Mostafa al-Nemr drove in Alexandria, killing two policemen and injuring five other people. Maj Gen Nemr was not hurt and said later he would not be deterred from “doing his duty” in safeguarding next week’s vote.
Saudi Arabia condemned the terrorist explosion at El-Moaskar El-Romany Street in the city.
An official source at the Saudi Foreign Ministry expressed the Kingdom's strong condemnation of the explosion and offered condolences to the families of the victims, the Government, and people of the Arab Republic of Egypt, wishing a speedy recovery to the wounded, according to Saudi Press Agency (SPA).
The source reaffirmed Saudi Arabia's solidarity with the Arab Republic of Egypt against terrorism and extremism.
PM Sherif Ismail stressed that the efforts exerted to confront terrorism by the armed forces and the police will not cease until all its "malicious roots are uprooted from Egypt", stressing that the country will remain while terrorism will be terminated.
The Interior Ministry confirmed in a statement on Saturday that an explosion in Alexandria killed two policemen and wounded five others.
Egypt’s Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar inspected the explosion site of the incident yesterday, where he met with a number of security leaders. He said in press remarks that investigation into the incident revealed some information about the identities of the perpetrators.
The minister deemed the incident as a “desperate attempt to destabilize Egypt’s safety and stability and break the will of Egyptians.”
“Egypt is going on the right track in encountering terrorism, these coward actions will not defeat our determination to eliminate terrorism," he asserted.
Later, police forces were deployed in all major cities and a number of provinces as part of the intensified security measures. Security departments and executive bodies also coordinated to maintain additional forces prepared for rapid intervention to address all possible emergency situations and provide security and safety for citizens during the presidential elections.
Immediately after the incident, Egypt’s prosecutor-general Nabil Sadek ordered that the High State Security and Sidi Gaber prosecution inspect the scene and take statements from the injured.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.
Police forces have been subjected to several attacks since former President Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood was ousted from power in 2013.
The North Sinai border has become a hub of terrorism since the isolation of the Muslim Brotherhood, considered a terrorist organization in Egypt, and the "Ansar al-Maqdis" which pledged allegiance to ISIS.
Al-Azhar strongly condemned the terrorist attack stressing that the assault is a criminal act as it aims at intimidating innocent people and spreading chaos. It urged the Egyptian people to support the State institutions topped by the Armed Forces and the police in order to uproot terrorism.
Mufti of Egypt Shawki Allam called on the Egyptians to unite and support the armed forces and the police in their war against the groups of misguidance and terrorism, stressing that such vicious terrorist attacks will not dissuade the Egyptian people from participating in the presidential elections.
For his part, MP Kamal Amer, chairman of the National Defense and Security Committee in the parliament said the terrorist incident confirms that Egypt is still targeted, both from inside and outside the country.
