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Subject: "Explosion outside Italian consulate in Cairo (swipe)" Previous topic | Next topic
Ted Gee Seal
Member since Apr 18th 2007
10091 posts
Sat Jul-11-15 02:06 AM

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"Explosion outside Italian consulate in Cairo (swipe)"


  

          

http://i.stuff.co.nz/world/africa/70157926/Explosion-outside-Italian-consulate-in-Cairo

A powerful explosion has caused massive destruction to the Italian consulate in central Cairo on.

A security official for state news agency MENA said a car bomb caused the blast. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion.

MENA report cited witnesses as saying the force of the explosion had caused massive destruction to the building's facade.

The blast ruptured underground water pipes, flooding one of the busiest intersections in Cairo, a major artery that connects Ramsis Square to the heart of downtown Cairo.

The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported five people - two guards and three pedestrians - were injured in the blast which happened at 6.30am local time on Saturday (4.30pm NZT). Reports attributed to the Egyptian Health Ministry said one person was killed.

MENA cited a senior security source as saying preliminary investigations indicated that attackers had placed a bomb underneath a car near the consulate and remotely detonated it. MENA earlier cited a security source as saying two policemen were wounded in the attack.

Islamist militants have carried out roadside bombs and suicide bombing attacks which have so far targeted members of the security forces and officials.

The violence, and political turmoil triggered by the 2011 uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, have hurt Egypt's tourism industry, a pillar of the economy.

Media reports said an Egyptian was wounded by the blast. The blast occurred early in the morning on a weekend during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan - a time of day when there is little congestion.

The could be heard in many neighbourhoods.

A Western diplomat said he was aware of the explosion in front of the consulate but could not confirm that the building was the target.

A Sinai-based insurgency has escalated since the army ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi after mass protests against his rule in 2013.

Two weeks ago, a car bomb killed the country's top public prosecutor and militants affiliated to Islamic State attacked several military checkpoints in North Sinai, in what was the fiercest fighting in the region in years.

The army said 17 soldiers and more than 100 militants were killed in those clashes.

-AP/Reuters

Just IMO though.

  

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