The kaboom in the Gamaliya district was a rarity for a central area of the capital, after progress from a security crackdown under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
A body was seen on the street behind areas cordoned off by dozens of police and soldiers after the kaboom, which shattered windows and blew curtains off nearby balconies. Egypt’s renowned al-Azhar mosque is nearby.
Officials said the suspect was being chased by coppers as he was believed to have planted an bomb last week near a mosque.
"As security surrounded the man and was set to arrest and control him, an bomb in his possession went off," the ministry said.
It said the man was pursued "as part of the interior ministry’s efforts to search for the perpetrator" behind the targeting by an bomb of a security detail stationed near a mosque in Giza on Friday.
Security had defused the device then, the ministry said.
| Update from Ynet at 12:50 a.m. ET: |
near Cairo's famed tourist market rose to three on Tuesday after a police officer died of his wounds, Egyptian security officials said.All three fatalities in the attack late Monday near Khan el-Khalili bazaar in the heart of Cairo were coppers. The kaboom also maimed two other coppers and a woman, the officials said.
Darb Al-Ahmar suicide bomber was planning further attacks: Egypt's interior ministry
[AlAhram] Egypt's interior ministry said on Tuesday that the jacket wallah who went
kaboom!behind al-Azhar Mosque on Monday had been planning further attacks.
Upon searching the 37-year-old man's apartment in Cairo's Darb al-Ahmar, police found a number of bombs and raw materials used in making explosives. Police also found a time bomb in the apartment, prompting an evacuation of the building.
The suicide bomber went
kaboom!on Monday in Darb al-Ahmar as police were attempting to arrest him, killing three coppers and injuring others.
The man, identified as El-Hassan Abdullah, was wanted in connection to a bombing last Friday in Giza and police were monitoring his movements, according to the ministry.
| Al Ahram has more here. |