Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim has survived an assassination attempt when a car bomb ripped through his convoy in a Cairo street, security officials say.The explosion, the first such attack in Cairo in years, took place about 10.30am on Thursday near Mr Ibrahim's home in the Nasr City area, the officials said, adding the car that blew up had been parked in the street. "The minister survived the assassination attempt," one security official said. Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim. State news agency MENA, quoting an interior ministry source, reported that civilians had been wounded and some shops damaged in the blast. State-run agency Ahram Gate said eight people had been hurt, including six police. Advertisement Police cordoned off the area around the blast, in the same suburb where authorities forcibly broke up sit-ins by supporters of ousted president Mohamed Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood last month, triggering a week of bloodshed and violence that left about 1,000 people dead. Mr Ibrahim, who was appointed by Mr Mursi, backed the military's July 3 ouster of the Islamist president and his forces led the operation against the sit-ins. The attack may mark a new phase in what the government and media say is a "fight against terror." The military-backed interim administration ignited a bloody confrontation with Mursi's Brotherhood when security forces killed hundreds of its members and detained hundreds more, including top leaders, in the most severe crackdown on the group in decades. The Brotherhood "strongly condemns" the bombing, al-Jazeera television reported, citing a statement by the group.Ahram Gate cited an unidentified security official as saying that the attack was carried out by jihadists.Ziad Akl, a researcher at the Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo, said: "We've reached the stage where there no longer is a central authority that controls the Islamist collective action on the streets, specifically the violent one. It's no longer the Muslim Brotherhood that represents a threat." Instead, he said, it was "a number of small unidentified" movements.Mr Akl said the likely response by security forces was "going to be the worst we can imagine". Mr Ibrahim said there were several injuries as a result of the bomb that had targeted him and one child had his leg amputated. He said the explosion was likely triggered by remote control. The first three floors of a building overlooking the site were severely damaged, while charred tires and parts of a motor and a car were strewn across the pavement. Taxi driver Ahmed Hamza said he was at the traffic light when the minister's convoy was passing. He said shrapnel from a vehicle that blew up hit his car. A man and two women standing at the corner "had their legs blown off". Egypt has been under a state of emergency since last month's crackdown, including a curfew that has since been relaxed to run from 11pm to 6am Officials say the measures are necessary to bolster security as the government pushes ahead with a transition "road map" that would see the now-suspended constitution amended and elections held by early next year. The Brotherhood and other Mursi supporters have been holding rallies against what they call a military coup, though the protests have shrunk in scale since the violent crackdown. The bombing was an echo of the violence that plagued Egypt in the 1990s, when former president Hosni Mubarak waged a battle against Islamists. Since Mr Mursi's ouster, attacks on security forces have increased, though the latest attack was the first targeting a senior government official.Insurgents have also stepped up attacks in the largely lawless Sinai Peninsula, prompting a military response including air assaults using Apache helicopters earlier this week. Egypt's security chief escapes assassination, 1st such attack since Islamist ... Egypt's interior minister escapes assassination British girl, 16, loses leg in Egypt suicide bomb blast 'aimed at interior minister' Egypt: British teenager loses leg in Cairo bomb attack Egypt interior minister: Today's bombing is start of insurgency Blast in Egypt injures more than 20; interior minister survives Egypt's Interior Minister Escapes Assassination Attempt Egypt's Interior Minister Survives Assassination Attempt Egypt's Interior Minister removes prison official after reports Islamists met in jail Egypt, Muslim Brotherhood, Video, Mohammed Ibrahim, Egypt Attack, Egypt Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim, Mohammed Ibrahim Assassination Attempt, Mohammed Ibrahim Egypt, Mohammed Ibrahim Interior Minister, Mohammed Morsi, World News

• published: 06 Sep 2013
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