CAIRO: Gunmen in a car shot dead an Egyptian army brigadier general and wounded two soldiers in eastern Cairo on Friday, the military said.

The attack came hours ahead of planned Islamist protests that have prompted the police and military to boost their presence in the capital and other cities.

The identity of the assailants was not clear, but militants have killed scores of policemen and soldiers since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July last year.

The military said in a statement that the assailants were driving a vehicle without licence plates. Security officials had earlier said the officer was a colonel.

Several high-ranking police and military officers have been killed in attacks since Morsi’s overthrow.

Morsi’s ouster and detention led to a massive crackdown on his supporters that killed hundreds of people and saw thousands jailed.

Many of the militant attacks have taken place in the north of the Sinai Peninsula where militants have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group that controls parts of Iraq and Syria.

The Ansar Beit al-Maqdis group has also carried out attacks in Cairo and the Nile Valley, including an attempted assassination of the interior minister last year with a car bomb.

Two dead in clash: Two people were killed on Friday when Islamist protesters and police clashed in Cairo just hours after unidentified attackers shot dead two soldiers including a senior officer in the Egyptian capital.

The army and police had fanned out across Cairo and other cities in anticipation of rallies called by an Islamist group that opposes the military’s overthrow of then-president Mohamed Morsi last year.

In Cairo’s working class district of Matariya, at least two people were killed when protesters clashed with police, health and security officials said.

A health ministry official said one had been shot in the chest.

A friend identified him as Mohammed Hassan, and said the dead man was an Islamist who had regularly attended anti-government demonstrations.

“The police fired randomly at the protesters,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 29th , 2014