Bomb blast during Cairo raid leaves 6 dead: Islamic State claims responsibility

Cairo: An Egyptian affiliate of the jihadist Islamic State group claimed Friday the killing of six people, including three policemen, in a bomb blast during a Cairo apartment raid. Thursday’s explosion in the capital’s Al-Haram district, near the pyramids, came as police raided a flat suspected to be a militant hideout and tried to defuse an explosive device, the interior ministry said on its Facebook page. It said two unknown individuals were among those killed, and blamed the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement of ousted President Mohamed Morsi for the blast. [caption id=“attachment_2595024” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Security personnel stand guard at the scene of the bomb blast in a main street in Giza. AFP[/caption] However, an Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State group on Friday said it lured the officers to the apartment, which was “rigged with bombs”. “When the infidels entered, the bomb-rigged house was blown up,” the Islamic State Egypt group said in a statement posted on jihadist websites. The interior ministry said a group of Muslim Brotherhood members had used the apartment to manufacture explosives. Thirteen other people were wounded in the blast, it added. Al-Haram has witnessed several attacks and gunfights since the army ousted Islamist Morsi in July 2013. The neighbourhood is known to house many Morsi sympathisers and has been the scene of clashes between his supporters and security forces in the aftermath of his ouster by then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. It also houses several hotels used by tourists visiting Cairo because of its proximity to the world-famous pyramids. Militants have regularly attacked policemen and soldiers since the army toppled Morsi. Jihadists say their attacks are in retaliation for a brutal government crackdown targeting Morsi’s supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands imprisoned. Morsi was Egypt’s first freely elected president and succeeded Hosni Mubarak, who was driven from power after an 18-day popular uprising. On Monday, Egypt marks the fifth anniversary of the anti-Mubarak revolt, and Sisi has warned against any form of demonstration on that day. AFP