3 Apr 2014

Police official killed by bomb

8:13 am on 3 April 2014

State media in Egypt say a police brigadier-general was killed when three bombs went off near Cairo university. At least five other people were injured.

Security personnel inspect the scene of the first two bombs.

Security personnel inspect the scene of the first two bombs. Photo: AFP

State TV named the officer as Tariq al-Mirjawi, the head of Giza's investigation department.

The first two bombs went off within minutes of each other on Wednesday, with the third about two hours later near a riot police post outside the main gate at the university's faculty of engineering.

The BBC reports the area around the university has been a battleground for clashes between police and student supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in recent weeks.

The interim government outlawed the movement at the end of last year, declaring it a terrorist organisation.

The government says almost 500 people have been killed since last summer, most of them policemen and soldiers.