Car bombing at Italian Consulate in Cairo kills 1

World Today

Egyptian policemen stand at the base of the crumbled facade of the Italian consulate following a blast that killed at least one person in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, July 11, 2015. An Italian embassy official said the consulate was closed at the time of the explosion and no staff members were injured. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A car bomb ripped into the Italian Consulate in Cairo early Saturday, destroying a section of the historic building in a powerful blast that killed one Egyptian and marked the most significant attack yet on foreign interests as militants target the country’s security forces.

A group calling itself The Islamic State in Egypt claimed responsibility for the bombing in a message circulated on social media. The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified but it was distributed by known militant sympathizers. Previous claims linked to Islamic State attacks in Egypt had been signed as the group’s Sinai Province. It wasn’t immediately clear what, if anything, the new name signified.

Egypt faces threats from multiple insurgent factions, including the Islamic State affiliate in the restive Sinai that the military says killed at least 17 soldiers in a recent assault there.

The bombing struck at around 6:30 a.m. local time, exploding in a side street in downtown Cairo near the building’s back entrance and a busy highway overpass. Italian authorities said the consulate was closed at the time and none of its workers were wounded.

The blast killed a passer-by and wounded eight, one of whom is still in the hospital, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Italian Premier Matteo Renzi spoke with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi after the attack, saying in a statement: “We will not leave Egypt alone: Italy and Egypt are and will always be together in the fight against terrorism.”

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said that Italy would increase security at Italian sites in Cairo and greater Egypt.

An Egyptian security official said investigators were reviewing closed-circuit video recordings from the area, noting that one vehicle that disintegrated in the explosion had license plates from the canal city of Suez.

The blast heavily damaged the distinctive early 20th century building that once housed a school and became the Italian Consulate after World War II. Charred car parts littered the street, which flooded in some areas from rupture water pipes. Several floors of the consulate were destroyed on one side, leaving a gaping hole.

The purported Islamic State claim said the group had used 450 kilograms (990 pounds) of explosives in the attack. It warned Muslims to stay away from such “security nests” that were “lawful targets” for attacks.

The bombing marked the first large-scale attack on a foreign diplomatic installation since President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi took office a year ago, following his 2013 ouster as army chief of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Since then, attacks on security personnel and officials have intensified, most recently one that killed the country’s chief prosecutor near his home in Cairo.

Report by Associated Press