Egyptian students of al-Azhar University who support the Muslim Brotherhood raise their hands during a Cairo protest to show the four-finger sign associated with supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. (Khaled Kamel, AFP/Getty Images / )
CAIRO - An explosive device went off Thursday outside a university campus in the Egyptian capital, injuring at least four people on a passing bus, witnesses said.
A short time later, another small blast went off in the area. Officials said the devices appeared to be homemade bombs.
The first blast, which was loud but relatively small, took place in a roadway near student dormitories at Al-Azhar University in the Nasr City district of Cairo, according to the bus driver and passers-by. There was little damage other than to the bus.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Police quickly converged on the scene and cordoned off the area.
Al-Azhar has been a venue for near-daily protests by students demanding the reinstatement of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, deposed by a popularly supported military coup in July. Pro-Morsi demonstrations at the campus have resulted in frequent clashes between students and police.
Bombings in Cairo have so far not been a feature of the ongoing confrontation between security forces and Morsi's supporters in the Muslim Brotherhood. The explosion came one day after Egypt's government designated the Brotherhood a terrorist organization, and two days after a bombing at a police headquarter in northern Egypt killed at least 15 people.
A militant group mainly active in the Sinai peninsula claimed responsibility for that attack in Mansoura, in the Nile Delta north of Cairo.
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Twitter: @laurakingLAT
Posted by Unknown on Thursday, December 26, 2013 - Rating: 4.5
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