The statement from the ministry said gunmen opened fire on a car carrying Lt Col Mohammed Mabrouk of the national security agency, killing him on the spot late yesterday. Mabrouk worked in the agency's branch in charge of monitoring Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mabrouk is one of the most senior security officers to be targeted and killed in Cairo during the violence that has gripped Egypt since the ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July.