Terrorist target yet another Police headquarters building in Cairo, Egypt the other day (January 24, 2014). The massive explosion leveled floors and blew out windows sending glass shards flying everywhere upwards to three blocks away, according to reports.
I have been tracking, what seems to me a dramatic increase in car bombings specifically targeting police stations around the world.
Now comes news of another less than 10 hours ago.
This one targeted a Cairo police station. It was followed by two smaller explosions near police stations in the Cairo area, one of which killed one person.
In the Cairo police station bombing appeared to have been “caused by a suicide attacker who tried to drive a vehicle laden with explosives into the police headquarters”, said Maj. Gen. Hany Abdel Latif, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, according to a foreign news source.
Police guards stationed near in front of the headquarters in the Abdeen district of Cairo opened fire with machine guns at the vehicle, and “the explosion went off in the building’s vicinity rather than inside”, Latif told state news agency Egynews.
The blast completely devastated “the front of the first and second floors of the eight-story building”, he said, “and damaged the third floor.”
Most of the building’s windows appeared to have been blown out with glass strewn everywhere. Air-conditioning units dangled by cables from the shattered facade.
At least 51 people were wounded in the explosion, state-run broadcaster Masriya TV reported, citing the Health Ministry.
CNN’s Reza Sayah said the blast appeared to be “the most powerful bomb attack that we’ve seen here in central Cairo in recent memory” (source: (source: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/24/world/meast/egypt-explosion/).
“The bombs, scattered around the city and aimed at the police, killed six people…” (source: Article – Prolonged Fight Feared in Egypt After Bombingshttp://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/25/world/middleeast/fatal-bomb-attacks-in-egypt.html?_r=0
The incidents are just the latest in a long string by terrorists targeting police stations and headquarter buildings.
For example if you Google “car bomb, police station” you find dozens of incidents where terrorists have done just that (see article: A car bomb is detonated near police station in Tripoli injuring at least one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g9ZcA7l0cE).
In fact just the other day a car bomb exploded outside a police station in Benghazi, Libya (source: Car bomb rocks Benghazi police station http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/04/14915101-car-bomb-rocks-benghazi-police-station?lite) and before that a car bomb blew up in front of a police station in Cairo, Egypt (source: Bomb explodes at Cairo Police Stationhttp://www.voanews.com/content/reu-bomb-explodes-at-cairon-police-station/1745218.html).
I have heard it said that “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link” – the same is true, I think of perimeter defenses as well.
Unsure if the police were even aware of this situation I did ask a police officer about the purpose of the concrete planters outside the police HQ building. Unfortunately I was immediately profiled and put under suspicion for “solicitation.”
Solicitation, in this case had nothing to do with prostitution, but means that I was asking questions about delicate matters pertaining to the security or vulnerabilities at sensitive sites, like water treatment plants, military installations or nuclear plants…Basically anywhere that could be considered a potential “terrorist target.” It’s what they teach people as being one of the 8 signs of terrorism (see video: 8 signs of terrorism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac3jsBWo1po).
I was asked questions like “why do you want to know for” and “what business is it of your?”
Lucky for me the officer was more interested that day in being rude and obnoxious than trying to find out exactly what I was getting at here – or I could have very easily found myself in a police interrogation room for hours on end talking with a group of detectives assigned to the Arizona Counter-Terrorism Task Force.
I remember walking away that morning, not only feeling frustrated by the officer’s attitude and indifference to my concern but also feeling personally insulted in the process as well. My friends tell me I’m lucky I didn’t go to jail.
In the meantime the situation remains unaddressed going on well over a year now.
Making matters worse there is really no way to relay this information or concern to the authorities “anonymously” – without it being interpreted as some kind of terrorist threat.
See related article: Terror Attacks on Law Enforcement Worldwidehttp://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1113&issue_id=22007
See PDF file: Targeting Blue: Why we should study terrorist attacks against police http://www.ipes.info/WPS/WPS_No_45.pdf
This worrisome trend has me looking at vulnerabilities in my own country and state, the United States, specifically Phoenix, Arizona. See article: Sub-optimal perimeter defenses of the Phoenix Police Department headquarters building seen as a potential security threat https://groundreport.com/sub-optimal-perimeter-defenses-of-the-phoenix-police-department-headquarters-building-seen-as-a-potential-security-threat/
see also: Terror Attacks on Law Enforcement Worldwidehttp://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id=1113&issue_id=22007