10 killed in bomb blast as police raid apartment in Egypt

Security personnel stand guard at the scene of a bomb blast in a main street in Giza.

At least 10 persons, including seven policemen, were killed and 20 others injured in Egypt when militants linked with Daesh group exploded bombs in a booby-trapped apartment near the iconic pyramids of Giza during a raid by security forces.
The bomb blast in the capital's Al Haram district, near the pyramids, took place on Thursday when police raided a flat suspected to be a militant hideout.
Ten people, including seven policemen and three civilians, were killed in the explosion, prosecutor Ahmed El Tamawy was quoted as saying by Al Ahram.
An Egyptian affiliate of the Daesh group, Ansar Beit El Maqdes, claimed responsibility for the blast in a statement posted on militant websites.
The Sinai-based militant group claimed that it lured the officers to the apartment, which was "rigged with bombs".
"When the infidels entered, the bomb-rigged house was blown up," the terror group said in the statement.
The interior ministry, however, had earlier blamed the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement of Mohammed Mursi for the blast.
It said a group of Muslim Brotherhood members was using the apartment to manufacture explosives.
A civilian who lived in the building was killed in the explosion, and two charred bodies were found inside the apartment, according to the ministry's statement.
A Lieutenant of the Central Security Forces was among the deceased.
The blast took place ahead of the fifth anniversary of the 2011 revolution on Monday that ousted former strongman Hosni Mubarak. Sisi has warned against any form of demonstration on that day.
Al Haram has witnessed several attacks and gunfights since the army ousted Mursi in July 2013.
Militants have regularly attacked policemen and soldiers since the army toppled Mursi.
Militants claim their attacks are in retaliation for a government crackdown targeting Mursi's supporters that has left hundreds dead and thousands imprisoned.
Daesh has claimed responsibility for multiple suicide bombings and attacks targeting the Egyptian army and police in the past year.

• MENA