Blast at Italian Consulate in Cairo kills 1, heavily damages building

Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a auto bomb attack at the Italian consulate in Cairo this morning, in an escalation of a Sinai-based insurgency that suggests militants are opening a new front against foreigners in Egypt.

One person was killed when a vehicle bomb ripped into the Italian Consulate in Cairo early today.

The windows of the Egyptian Museum’s first and second floor were smashed as a result of a blast in the vicinity of the Italian consulate in Cairo earlier on Saturday, the ministry of antiquities said. The bombing comes amid an ongoing Islamic militant campaign targeting Egyptian security forces. Militants increased their attacks after Islamist President Mohammed Morsi was overthrown in July 2013.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack.

The army said 17 soldiers and more than 100 militants were killed in those clashes. It urged Muslims to “stay away from these security dens, because they are legitimate targets”, according to a transcript released by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist activity.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi spoke to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and said the two countries will stand together “in the fight against terrorism and fanaticism”. Wreckage of cars lay scattered across the street, a burst pipe caused a flood.

The purported Islamic State claim said the group had used 450 kilograms (990 pounds) of explosives in the attack.

A security official told Reuters the blast was caused by a auto bomb.

Less than two weeks ago, the nation’s chief prosecutor was killed in an explosion near his home in Cairo as he was heading to work.

The suspected bomb blast went off yesterday morning after 6am.

“Once again Egypt is under attack, once again Europeans have been hit by terrorists”, Mogherini said in a statement.

IS, which controls parts of Iraq and Syria, has called on its affiliates elsewhere to attack Western targets.

The Brotherhood’s ranks have grown divided recently over whether to violently confront the government in response to a almost two-year-old heavy crackdown that has killed hundreds and imprisoned thousands of its members.

The attack at the Italian consulate raises the stakes in the struggle between militants and the government, which has just started rebuilding an economy battered by four years of turmoil since an uprising toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

The explosion struck one of the busiest intersections in Cairo, a major artery that connects Ramses square to the heart of downtown Cairo.

An Egyptian security official said one civilian and one policeman were also injured.