There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths from the explosion early Thursday.
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Egypt’s interior ministry said in a statement that a vehicle had exploded outside the security compound.
Comments on Twitter indicated the blast, which heavily damaged the face of the state security building, was heard in several parts of the Egyptian capital.
Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel al-Sisi, has vowed to eradicate militancy, which he described as an existential threat to the Arab world and the West.
Citing anonymous security sources, The Sydney Morning Herald notes that the auto bomb exploded in front of a police building in Cairo, marking the latest in a wave of militant attacks targeting police officers and soldiers.
The blast, which went off around 2 a.m., demolished a wall in front of the government building, smashed its structure and left gaping holes exposing its offices.
Sisi has blamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood for a string of attacks against security forces and police and army installations, even when others assert responsibility.
“Sinai State”, a Sinai-based offshoot of the Islamic State (IS) group, has claimed responsibilty for Thursday’s attack in an online post. The Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL and ISIS) claimed responsibility for the blast in a statement circulated by the SITE Intelligence Group, though it did not explicitly credit its affiliate in Egypt, the Sinai Province. The group found responsible in many attacks in Egypt.
Recently, the militants have focused more of their attacks on civilians.
Egypt has seen a surge of assaults on security forces since the 2013 military overthrow of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.
That led to a provision in the new anti-terror law calling for heavy fines against journalists whose accounts of militant attacks diverge from official statements issued by Egyptian authorities.
The passing of the law was sped up following the assassination of state prosecutor Hisham Barakat in June, and a large-scale attack in Sinai, which was launched days later.
The judiciary and security forces already had wide-ranging powers in tackling “terrorism”, and Sisi’s regime has been accused of using the battle against jihadists as a pretext for stifling dissent.
Human Rights Watch on Wednesday slammed the new law.
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Though criticised by rights activists, supporters of Egyptian president have backed the crackdown on political opponents.
