Car bomb strikes Cairo security building, wounds 29 people

Middle East, News August 20, 2015 , by IRIA No Comments

CAIRO (Egypt) — A massive car bomb exploded ripped into a national security building in a residential neighborhood in Cairo early Thursday, wounding at least 29 people and blowing the facades off nearby buildings.

Ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the scene, which was flooded with water from pipes broken by what authorities said was a blast from high explosives. The explosion could be heard and felt across the city.

Emergency aid head Ahmed al-Ansari said the wounded were being evacuated to nearby hospitals. Wrecked cars stood around the building, as security forces patrolled the streets and set up roadblocks to ward off hysterical residents.

Inside his ruined clinic next door to the security building, plastic surgeon Gawad Mahmoud lamented Egypt’s troubles since the military ousted Morsi, the country’s first freely elected president, amid massive protests against his divisive yearlong rule.

“We were here painting the office, and then it went off. It was like an earthquake, it blew the doors off and smashed all the windows in,” he said. “The explosion sounded professional, it wasn’t small-time.”

A statement apparently issued by the Islamic State affiliate in Egypt hours later claimed responsibility for the blast, saying it was to avenge the execution of six convicted militants in May.

The statement said the “soldiers of the caliphate” targeted the building with a parked car bomb.

It was not immediately possible to verify the statement, which was circulated by IS supporters online and by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.

Egypt has been wracked by a wave of attacks since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi overthrew Morsi and launched a heavy crackdown against his supporters and dissent in general.

Last weekend, he decreed a new anti-terrorism law presented amid a wave of violence and killings this summer. The far-reaching new law sets a sweeping definition for who can face a harsh set of punishments. Journalists can be fined for reporting that contradicts Defense Ministry statements.

— WRAL, USAToday, NYT and agencies