Egypt: 16-Year-Old Loses her Leg in Suicide Bomb Blast Aimed at Interior Minister
The 16-year-old girl is among 20 injured in the bomb blast and gunfight on streets of Cairo.
By Sadho Ram — 06 Sep 2013, 06:30 PM — Updated almost 11 years ago
16-year-old British teenager loses leg in Cairo bomb ambush
A British teenager had her leg blown off by a bomb intended to kill the Egyptian Interior Minister as he travelled in a convoy through Cairo yesterday.
thetimes.co.uk
Deqa Hassan, 16, who grew up in Brixton, south London, was caught in the suspected suicide bomb blast in Cairo and has had her left leg amputated below the knee.
dailymail.co.ukLast night she described the attack, which police say was aimed at interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim. ‘I was walking with my friend and at the end of the street we heard the sound of an explosion,’ she said from hospital. 'I just hit the floor. People were screaming everywhere. It was very scary.’
Deqa, who is of Somali origin, had returned to her parent’s home in Cairo from Dubai to attend school days earlier. Last month she wrote on her Twitter page she was afraid of returning to Egypt because of escalating violence. She said she now wants to return to Brixton.
The blast occurred at 10:30 local time
The blast occurred at 10:30 local time, just after Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim had left his home in Nasr City for the office.
Image via bbcimg.co.ukThe bomb blast was targeted towards interior minister
Scene of bomb attack in Nasr City, Cairo, on 5 September 2013 Mr Ibrahim said his convoy was hit, and a number of his guards and civilians - including a child - were injured.
Image via bbcimg.co.uk
Security guards at scene of bomb attack in Nasr City, Cairo, on 5 September 2013 Mr Ibrahim is the first high-ranking official to be targeted in this way in the two months of violence since the army ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.
Image via bbcimg.co.uk
Scene of bomb attack in Nasr City, Cairo, on 5 September 2013 Nasr City is a stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood, but a senior figure in the group strongly condemned Thursday's attack.
Image via bbcimg.co.uk
Scene of bomb attack in Nasr City, Cairo, on 5 September 2013 Mr Ibrahim heads the police force that has clashed with supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in recent weeks.
Image via bbcimg.co.ukMohamed Ibrahim, a significant figure in the violent crackdown on supporters of Mohamed Morsi’s deposed Islamist government, walked away unhurt from the attack, which was aimed at his vehicle convoy in the Nasr City district of the capital.
irishtimes.com
The minister was driving in a convoy near his ministry when the bomb exploded. Two alleged attackers were said to have been killed by security services. Eyewitnesses said they heard a man cry ‘Allahu akbar’ after the explosion and a brief gun battle followed which left bullet holes down the side of the minister’s vehicle.
He later told reporters that the assassination attempt was “not the end, but the beginning” of what he anticipated would be a drawn-out fight against “terrorism”.
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