A bomb exploded in front of the Italian consulate in Cairo on Saturday, killing one person, the health ministry and security officials said, raising the possibility that Islamist militants could open a new front against foreigners.
Advertisement
One security official, speaking on conditions of anonymity, has been quoted as saying that investigators are looking into whether an explosive device was placed under a vehicle parked near the building, according to the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA).
Medics at the site of the blast told Agence France-Presse that the explosion wounded two policemen stationed outside the consulate and three passers-by without identifying which was killed. The blast comes less than two weeks after the nation’s top prosecutor was assassinated in Cairo, raising concerns that militant attacks, which have been largely confined to the restive Northern Sinai province, are gradually spreading to other parts of the country.
Until now, Islamic State supporters in Egypt had not set their sights on Western targets, focusing instead on security forces.
The main entrance of the building was nearly totally destroyed, windows were shattered and the building was flooded after water-pipes ruptured.
At a later press conference Gentiloni said there was no doubt that the Italian consulate was the intended target of the attack, calling it “an attempt at intimidation”.
The consulate sits on one of the busiest intersections in downtown Cairo, along a major artery that connects Ramsis Square to the heart of the capital.
CAIRO A huge explosion was heard in central Cairo on Saturday, said a Reuters witness.
Egyptian Heath Ministry official Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar confirmed that at least one person was killed in the blast, and four others injured.
“This is not a challenge that the West will win by itself”, he said.
“This specific attack is by far the worst we’ve ever seen”, said Daniel Nisman, CEO of the Levantine Group Risk Consultancy, adding that the danger lies mainly in a plan to take over Sinai.
“We will not leave Egypt to stand alone”.
Sisi won elections a year ago pledging to wipe out the militants and blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood movement.
The cabinet has said it would reconsider that provision following a media outcry.
Over the same period, at least 1,400 people, mostly Islamists, have been killed in a security crackdown on protests.
Advertisement
Thousands have been jailed, including secular dissidents, and hundreds sentenced to death in mass trials, although most have won retrials.
