Italian consulate bomb: ISIS claims responsibility for deadly Cairo attack
ISLAMIC State has claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack at the Italian Consulate in Cairo which has so far claimed one life.
The bomb blast took place this morning at 6.30am
The jihadist terror group tweeted the revelation, claiming Allah had given its blessing for the murdurous act.
They said there was 450kg of explosives in the car bomb.
They warned others to stay clear of other “security dens” because they were “legitimate targets”.
The blast killed a passerby and injured eight, one of which is still in hospital.
Several floors of the of the historic building were destroyed when the bomb was detonated at about 6.30am, near the building’s rear entrance and a busy flyover road.
Egyptian Heath Ministry official Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar said the man killed had some of his limbs blown off.
Emergency personnel at the site of the car bomb at the Italian consulate in Cairo
Onlookers stand near the site of a bomb blast at the Italian Consulate in Cairo, Egypt
Italy and Egypt are and will always be together in the fight against terrorism
Egypt faces threats from numrous extremist insurgent groups, including Islamic State, coming across the Sinai Peninsula.
Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi contacted the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi giving the country’s full support to Egypt’s fight against terrorisom.
He said: "Italy knows that terrorism is an enormous challenge that deeply marks history in our time.
Broken glass near the scene of the car bomb attack
The historical building of the Italian consulate after the bomb blast in Cairo
"We will not leave Egypt alone: Italy and Egypt are and will always be together in the fight against terrorism."
Pope Francis condemned the car bombing in what he called a "wave of other attacks that already claimed the lives of numerous persons”.
He sent a telegram to the Egyptian president and appealed to ''political and religious players at all levels to unite their efforts to combat with ever more determination the plague of terrorism and to promote harmony and solidarity."