Security men flock to civil protection unit despite attacks on its personnel – unit director

Working at the ministry of interior's civil protection administration has gained popularity recently despite the recurring attacks targeting its men, said the administration's director.
 
Mamdouh Abdel Qader, director of the civil protection administration in Cairo, told Aswat Masriya during a phone interview that explosives experts join the administration to "avenge" for their colleagues who are killed in bombing attacks. Abdel Qader added that at least four civil protection men have recently died on the job.
 
A police officer was killed while trying to defuse an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted in the vicinity of a police station in Giza on Tuesday, the health ministry said.
 
"This job requires faith in one's work, otherwise any training received would not work," Abdel Qader said.
 
He added that civil protection men receive several trainings, most importantly psychological rehabilitation. "You cannot be psychologically unprepared for this job," he said, comparing the job to that of a firefighter.
 
The rate of reports the civil protection administration receives depends on the "political events" happening in the country, said Abdel Qader, who added that the administration receives more reports during political turmoil.
 
The administration's director advised citizens to steer clear of any "strange body" they suspect could be an explosive device while simultaneously reporting its location to the authorities.
 
Abdel Qader said the administration receives a lot of false reports. He nevertheless described this as a "positive" matter, saying it reflects the citizens' awareness level.
 
"Most salvaged explosives are IEDs," Abdel Qader said. He denied that defusing such devices is easier than defusing more complex devices, stressing that civil protection men handle all kinds of devices with "extreme caution".
 
Abdel Qader said making IEDs has become very easy nowadays as the internet makes it easy for anyone to learn how to make them, which he described as "disastrous".
 
A video of the attack on the police station in Giza went viral on Tuesday. It showed the deceased explosives expert wearing a heavy vest as he was trying to dismantle the IED before it exploded.
 
The vest civil protection men wear on the job only "limits" the effect of the explosion, based on the quantity of explosive material used, Abdel Qader said; it does not completely protect the men.
 
A Twitter account claiming to belong to militant group Ajnad Misr - Soldiers of Egypt - claimed on Tuesday responsibility for the attack outside the police station.
 
"[The group] was keen on making today's IED a small one without shrapnel," the group said, saying it feared for the lives of Muslim passersby. "As usual they [security forces] didn't learn their lessons. Jamming and dismantling the IED did not work, neither did the anti-explosion clothes. The officer perished and others were injured. Thank God."
 
Ajnad Misr has claimed responsibility for several other bombing attacks in the capital. Among those attacks was the explosion of two IEDs outside the presidential palace last June while civil protection men were trying to separately dismantle them.
 
Bombings and shootings targeting security forces have surged since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July 2013 following mass protests against his rule.
 
Egypt listed Mursi's Brotherhood as a terrorist organisation in December 2013 and insists it is behind the stringent wave of militancy which has targeted security personnel since his ouster.
 
The Muslim Brotherhood has come under attack since July 2013. The military-installed regime has since then rounded up thousands of Brotherhood members and supporters and killed hundreds of protesters in confrontations with security forces.
 
The Brotherhood continuously denies the authorities' accusations against it, distancing itself from one militant attack after the other.