Policeman killed by Cairo bomb claimed by jihadists

CAIRO - A bomb attack Friday on an Egyptian police convoy in the capital killed an officer and wounded seven conscripts and a civilian, officials said, with jihadists claiming responsibility.

The blast occurred in Ain Shams, a neighbourhood in northeast Cairo that is a stronghold of supporters of deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The interior ministry said a "home-made bomb" targeted the patrol.

The officer, who served in an anti-riot unit, was rushed to hospital and died of his wounds, it said.

The jihadist group Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) said on Twitter that it had staged the bombing, which it described as the third attack against police in the area.

Egypt has been gripped by unrest since the army, led by now-President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, toppled Morsi in July 2013 and launched a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

Militants have regularly targeted security forces, killing scores of policemen and troops mostly in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

Twenty people, including two policemen, died in clashes between police and Islamist protesters on January 25 - the fourth anniversary of the uprising that toppled veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak.

On Tuesday, five bombs exploded outside police stations in Egypt's second city Alexandria, wounding 10 civilians.