Egypt's official news agency and a security official say at least 11 people were killed and scores more injured after a strong explosion hit a police headquarters building in a Nile Delta city north of Cairo.
The Middle East News Agency said the explosion took place at 1.10am local time on Tuesday, at Dakahlia security headquarters in the Nile Delta province of Mansour, causing the collapse of parts of the five-floor building.
A security official said that 11 people were killed and 80 injured including the city's security chief. Most of those killed were policemen inside the security headquarters whose bodies were buried under the debris. The death toll was expected to rise, he said.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said an initial investigation suggested a car bomb had caused the explosion.
Egypt's Nile News TV cut into its late-night programming to urge people to go to hospitals to donate blood to the victims of the attack, which it described as the worst in the city's history.
The attack comes a day after an al-Qaida inspired group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, or the Champions of Jerusalem, called on members of the police and army to desert or face death. Attacks on soldiers and policemen have sharply risen since the Egyptian army ousted the elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July in the face of mass unrest against his rule.
Most of the attacks have occurred in the Sinai. about 200 soldiers have died in Sinai alone since Morsi was forced out.
The group said it considered Egyptian troops to be infidels because they answered to the secular-leaning military-backed government. It gained notoriety after expanding its operations outside of the northern Sinai province. It claimed responsibility for a September suicide bombing that targeted Egypt's interior minister, who escaped unharmed.
埃及代盖赫利耶省首府曼苏拉警察总部大楼发生爆炸，造成至少14人死亡，130多人受伤。埃及临时总理贝卜拉维称爆炸为恐怖袭击事件。
埃及卫生部表示，当地时间24日凌晨1点10分，曼苏拉警察总部发生爆炸，导致至少14人死亡，130多人受伤，并致使5层高的大楼部分坍塌。有匿名安全官员透露说，共有2枚炸弹同时爆炸，一枚在大楼高层的指挥部引爆，另一枚则大楼旁边的一辆汽车中爆炸，埃及当局还发现并排除了第3枚炸弹。爆炸中的死者多为警察，代盖赫利耶省警察局长也在爆炸中受伤。
当地医院表示，从现场目击者报告和伤者受伤情况看来，伤亡人数还有可能进一步上升。当地电视台中断深夜的节目安排，敦促人们去医院向受害者献血。
埃及临时总理哈齐姆•贝卜拉维谴责爆炸事件，表示要将袭击者绳之以法。他说：“这是意在恐吓民众、阻碍路线图的恐怖主义行径。幕后黑手想要破坏我们国家的未来。政府将会尽全力追捕那些执行、策划并支持袭击事件的罪犯。”
另外，埃及内阁发言人谢里夫•舒基称，穆斯林兄弟会暴露了“造成流血死亡、危害埃及安全的恐怖主义丑恶嘴脸”，称其应该为爆炸负责。贝卜拉维则拒绝认定穆斯林兄弟会是恐怖组织。
自7月份埃及军方驱逐埃及民选总统穆罕默德•穆尔西以来，埃及士兵和警察遭受的攻击数量急剧上升，其中大多数袭击事件集中在西奈半岛。穆尔西倒台后仅西奈就已有约200名士兵死亡。
