Egyptian security forces on Tuesday killed seven militants in a shootout in Cairo, the Interior Ministry said.
The city is under tight security as Egypt’s Coptic Christians start the holy week leading to Easter.
A police officer was also killed in the hours-long firefight that erupted when security troops raided a militant hideout at a residential building in Cairo’s Amireyah district, the ministry said.
Three police agents, including an officer, were wounded.
The ministry said its troops seized weapons and ammunition in the raid.
It said the suspects were planning attacks on the country’s Coptic Christians during the holy week and on Easter Sunday.
Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Christians, one the world’s oldest Christian communities, will celebrate Easter on April 19.
Pope Tawadros II, their spiritual leader, mourned the death of Lt Col Mohammed El Houfi in the raid.
The country’s chief prosecutor ordered an investigation into the incident.
The ministry said the raid ended about 9pm local time and all militants in the group were killed.
"National security received a tip-off that there was an apartment full of terrorists," a security source told AFP.
"An exchange of gunfire ensued."
Videos on social media showed a building in Al Amireya neighbourhood being surrounded by security forces while a barrage of gunfire could be heard in the background.
Two private TV stations broadcast footage of the shooting and asked people to stay indoors.
The public prosecutor said a team of investigators was sent to the scene in Al Amireya.
Coptic Christians have long complained of persecution and insufficient protection. There have been several deadly attacks against them across the country.
The last major attack, claimed by ISIS, was in November 2018 when gunmen attacked two buses near the Monastery of St Samuel the Confessor, 260 kilometres south of Cairo, killing seven people and wounding 18.
Egypt has been fighting an insurgency that has killed hundreds of police and soldiers in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
The insurgency began after the removal of president Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.
Militants have also carried out attacks elsewhere in the country.
Three-day coronation
Royal purification
The entire coronation ceremony extends over three days from May 4-6, but Saturday is the one to watch. At the time of 10:09am the royal purification ceremony begins. Wearing a white robe, the king will enter a pavilion at the Grand Palace, where he will be doused in sacred water from five rivers and four ponds in Thailand. In the distant past water was collected from specific rivers in India, reflecting the influential blend of Hindu and Buddhist cosmology on the coronation. Hindu Brahmins and the country's most senior Buddhist monks will be present. Coronation practices can be traced back thousands of years to ancient India.
The crown
Not long after royal purification rites, the king proceeds to the Baisal Daksin Throne Hall where he receives sacred water from eight directions. Symbolically that means he has received legitimacy from all directions of the kingdom. He ascends the Bhadrapitha Throne, where in regal robes he sits under a Nine-Tiered Umbrella of State. Brahmins will hand the monarch the royal regalia, including a wooden sceptre inlaid with gold, a precious stone-encrusted sword believed to have been found in a lake in northern Cambodia, slippers, and a whisk made from yak's hair.
The Great Crown of Victory is the centrepiece. Tiered, gold and weighing 7.3 kilograms, it has a diamond from India at the top. Vajiralongkorn will personally place the crown on his own head and then issues his first royal command.
The audience
On Saturday afternoon, the newly-crowned king is set to grant a "grand audience" to members of the royal family, the privy council, the cabinet and senior officials. Two hours later the king will visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most sacred space in Thailand, which on normal days is thronged with tourists. He then symbolically moves into the Royal Residence.
The procession
The main element of Sunday's ceremonies, streets across Bangkok's historic heart have been blocked off in preparation for this moment. The king will sit on a royal palanquin carried by soldiers dressed in colourful traditional garb. A 21-gun salute will start the procession. Some 200,000 people are expected to line the seven-kilometre route around the city.
Meet the people
On the last day of the ceremony Rama X will appear on the balcony of Suddhaisavarya Prasad Hall in the Grand Palace at 4:30pm "to receive the good wishes of the people". An hour later, diplomats will be given an audience at the Grand Palace. This is the only time during the ceremony that representatives of foreign governments will greet the king.
Naga
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