Egypt’s Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim has survived a bombing attack after his convoy was targeted in Cairo on Thursday. According to government officials, Ibrahim was en route from his home in the Nasr City district to the ministry when the attack took place, the BBC reports.
The state-run news agency has reported that a nearby car detonated as the convoy rolled past; state television news reported that a bomb was thrown at the vehicles from the roof of a nearby building. According to Egyptian security officials, one of the drivers in the convoy and six bystanders were injured in the attack. The surrounding cars and buildings also suffered damage in the explosion.
Egypt has been the site of street protests and political unrest for months, which peaked with the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi on July 3. Since then, large protests have taken place in Nasr City with supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood – the Islamic group from which Morsi hails – demanding his reinstatement. The attack on Ibrahim is the first such premeditated attack on a senior government minister. There has been no claim of responsibility and the Muslim Brotherhood has denied being involved in the bombing.
[BBC]