A bombing killed six policemen at a checkpoint in Cairo on Friday (December 9th), the latest in a string of attacks in Egypt's capital targeting security forces and officials, the Interior Ministry said.
The attack struck in the western Talibiya neighbourhood of the capital, shortly before the weekly Muslim prayers and when Cairo's streets are mostly empty, AFP reported.
The bloodied bodies of several policemen could be seen at the blast site next to police vehicles that had been stationed there.
The Hasm Movement, a militant group which has claimed a string of recent attacks, said it was behind the bombing, in a statement circulated on social media.
Police cordoned off the area with yellow tape as they searched for more explosives.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the bomb exploded next to a checkpoint, killing two officers, a policeman and three conscripts.
Three other conscripts were wounded.
Militants have repeatedly attacked policemen and soldiers in recent years, with most attacks carried out in Sinai by a branch of the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL).
But militants have also targeted security forces and government officials in the capital.
Most of the Cairo attacks in recent months have been claimed by two little known militant groups, Liwaa al-Thawra as well as the Hasm Movement.
Friday's bombing came days after the Interior Ministry said police killed three Hasm Movement members in southern Egypt, and weeks after it announced breaking up one of the group's cells.
