Islamic State said in its statement Thursday that the bombing in Shubra Al Kheima was retaliation for Egypt’s execution of six men convicted of involvement in the deaths of six police officers in March 2014.
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El-Sisi passed the law in reaction to deadly attacks across Egypt, which multiplied this summer and persisted in the years since Islamists were removed from power in 2013, The Associated Press reports. For blocks across the blast website within the very popular residential neighborhood, glass from blown-out windows could possibly be seen on the road.
Security forces also responded violently to Brotherhood protests and demands that Morsi be reinstated, setting off clashes that left more than 1,000 people dead.
Eyewitnesses say the bombers parked the explosives-laden auto outside the government facility before escaping in another vehicle.
The group is based in the Sinai, where it has carried out multiple attacks on police and military.
Emergency aid head Ahmed al-Ansari said the six wounded were being evacuated to nearby hospitals. “All the cases are in a stabled condition”, “Most of their injuries are not serious”, said Dr Sherif Seleem, deputy manager of al-Neel hospital.
Rights groups and political opponents blame increasingly repressive policies by the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi for fueling extremist sentiment. Another auto bomb targeted the Italian Consulate in Cairo, damaging the building. Previously, those claiming allegiance to the jihadist group have called themselves Sinai Province, for the peninsula where an Islamic insurgency is centered, but the latest statement referred simply to Islamic State in Egypt. The far-reaching new law sets a sweeping definition for who can face a harsh set of punishments. Journalists might be fined for reporting that contradicts Defence Ministry statements.
According to their lawyer and relatives, three of the men could not have participated in the attack for which they were on trial and were already in custody when it was carried out.
The cupboard permitted the draft anti-terrorism regulation final month, two days after a automotive bomb in an upscale Cairo neighbourhood killed the nation’s prosecutor-general, Hisham Barakat.
There have been several bomb attacks by Islamist militants in Cairo this year.
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While the violence has been largely confined to northern Sinai, attacks are gradually spreading to other areas, including Cairo.
