Cairo police wounded in car bomb explosion near security building

 By 
Victoria Ho
 on 
Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

A car bomb exploded near a state security building in Cairo in the early hours of Thursday morning, Egypt's interior ministry said.

The bomb demolished a wall in front of the government building and blew off the facades of nearby buildings. There's a crater in the street and roads are flooded with water from broken pipes, according to reports.

Residents said they heard the blast around 2 a.m. local time, the BBC reported. The ministry said: "A man suddenly stopped his car in front of the state security building, jumped out of it and fled on a motorbike that followed the car."

Six policemen were wounded when the bomb blew up. No deaths have been reported.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

This bomb follows a new antiterrorism law that was decreed by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi last weekend. There has been a wave of attacks in Egypt since el-Sissi overthrew the divisive Mohammed Morsi in 2013 and launched a major crackdown against his supporters and dissent in general.

Egypt has lacked a legislature for three years, and since winning office after Morsi's overthrow, el-Sissi has legislative authority and has passed dozens of laws.

In June, Egypt's attorney general was assassinated by a car bomb in Cairo.

The Cabinet approved the draft antiterrorism law last month. On the day it was approved, Islamic militants launched a multi-pronged attack attempting to seize a northern Sinai town, hitting the military with suicide attacks and battling soldiers for hours.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.

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