Six Egyptian policemen were wounded in a bomb attack today in Cairo as clashes elsewhere in Egypt between police and Islamist protesters killed at least two people, including a child, officials said.
The attack shattered a tense calm in the capital after a spate of bombings on January 24 killed six policemen, in an escalation of a militant campaign following the overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
The interior ministry said two small bombs exploded near policemen stationed on a bridge near central Cairo. At least six were wounded in the attack, the health ministry said.
Police cordoned off the scene, where a lightly damaged police truck appeared to have borne the brunt of the blast.
State television reported that the attack targeted a checkpoint set up to counter a scheduled protest by Morsi's Islamist supporters, who had called for rallies on Friday.
Police dispersed several protest marches that set off from mosques after noon prayers, security officials said.
A child was killed and eight other people wounded in clashes between security services and pro-Morsi demonstrators in the village of Elga south of Cairo, security sources said.
The sources said Elga is a stronghold for backers of the ousted president.
And another person was killed in the violence in Fayoum, southwest of the capital.
The country has been shaken by persistent and often violent protests as well as bombings and shootings since the military overthrew Morsi on July 3.
Militant attacks on police and soldiers have killed scores, mostly in the restive Sinai Peninsula.
Jihadists based in the peninsula have also claimed responsibility for attacks on police in Cairo and elsewhere.
An Al-Qaeda-inspired group in the Sinai said it carried out a car bombing outside Cairo police headquarters on January 24 that killed four people.
Two more policemen were killed in three additional bombings in the capital that day.
