AFP, CAIRO: A car bomb ripped through Italy's consulate in Cairo yesterday, killing one person, the first attack on a foreign mission in Egypt since jihadists launched a campaign against security forces two years ago.
The early morning explosion was heard across the capital and tore down the facade of the consular building, which forms part of a large complex that also houses a social club and a school.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on the consulate located near the prosecutor's office and supreme court in central Cairo.
It comes less than two weeks after suspected militants assassinated the country's top prosecutor in a Cairo car bombing, in an attack that has also gone unclaimed. Health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghaffar said Saturday's blast killed a civilian and wounded nine people, including policemen and passers-by.