IS-affiliated group claims Cairo police raid bomb blast

An Egyptian affiliate of the Islamic State (IS) group on Friday claimed responsibility for a bomb blast that ripped through an apartment in Cairo, killing at least 10 people. 

Seven police officers and three civilians were killed in the blast, which occured as police were raiding a suspected militant hideout near Giza, home to Egypt's pyramids, the official al-Ahram newspaper reported. 

Thirteen people were also injured by the blast, which was claimed by the Islamic State Egypt group in a statement posted on websites.

The statement said that police had been "lured" to the apartment which had been rigged with explosives.

"When the infidels entered, the bomb-rigged house was blown up," it said. 

The explosion on Thursday in the capital's al-Haram area, near the pyramids, came ahead of next week's anniversary of the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

Security officials said the force of the explosion damaged part of the building housing the apartment.

Al-Haram has been the scene of several attacks and gunfights since the overthrow of the country's first democratically elected Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. Morsi has since been arrested and his Muslim Brotherhood organisation has been branded a terrorist group by authorities, although it denies supporting violence.

The neighbourhood is considered sympathetic to Morsi and was a regular venue for clashes between his supporters and security forces in the aftermath of his removal by then-army chief and now President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The district also houses several hotels used by tourists visiting Cairo because of its proximity to the pyramids.

Militants have regularly attacked policemen and soldiers since the army toppled Morsi.

The Cairo bombing comes after gunmen killed five policemen late on Wednesday when they attacked a checkpoint in the North Sinai town of El-Arish.

IS's Egyptian affiliate in the Sinai Province claimed that attack.