The bombing followed a post by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s affiliate in Egypt urging strikes against the judiciary following the hanging of six alleged militants.
Operating in the Sinai peninsula, suspected jihadist gunmen had killed two judges and a prosecutor in May.
A group called Giza Popular Resistance claimed responsibility for the attack on its Facebook page, but officials also see Muslim Brotherhood fingerprints on the bombing as Barakat was widely hated in Egypt’s opposition movement. The prosecutor had enabled the detention of tens of thousands of critics of President Abdul Fatah Sisi’s government and pursued the prosecutions of scores of supporters of the outlawed Brotherhood which led to death sentences.
Egyptian state news agency MENA reported the June 29 attack wounded at least nine others, including police and civilians.
Sisi has declared June 30 an official holiday to mourn Barakat’s death and canceled celebrations to mark the anniversary of the unrest that led to Morsi’s overthrow.
“These kinds of vicious attacks will not deter the state from continuing its path of development, the adoption of rights, and realizing the hopes and aspirations of the Egyptian people,” Sisi’s office said in a statement.
In May, Islamic State of Iraq and Levant’s (ISIL’s) affiliate in Egypt called on followers to attack judges.
“Terrorism killed the top man of our prosecution but despite this we will not be scared and we will continue our work,” said Judge Ashraf Abdelhady.
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http://www.worldtribune.com/2015/06/29/isil-brotherhood-suspected-in-car-bomb-attack-that-killed-egypts-top-prosecutor/