An explosion in a tourist area near al-Azhar mosque in the Egyptian Capitol, Cairo, took Thursday the lives of four people. 17 more were wounded to various degrees, Egyptian police said.
Apparently, one of the four killed was the assailant
Egyptian governmental source said initial investigations showed it was an individual operation.
‘It resulted from the explosion of a charge prepared in a primitive way containing gunpowder and nails.
An Egyptian police source said a male pedestrian threw a bomb in the busy tourist area of the Egyptian capital at about 5 P.M. local time. Earlier, another police source said that the assailant was riding a motorcycle.
Among the dead were a French woman and a U.S. citizen. At least three American citizens were hurt in the attack, according to Reuters.
Egypt has largely seen calm since its security managed to suppress a campaign of violence carried by extreme militants in the early 1990s.
The last attack in Cairo took place in September 1997, when two gunmen fired automatic rifles at a tour bus parked outside the Egyptian Museum in central Cairo, killing 12 people – mostly German tourists.
Last October, explosions hit several hotels in the Sinai Peninsula, including one in the resort of Taba, killing 34 people, mostly Israelis.
