At least 3 policemen killed in Cairo suicide bomb attack

The death toll from a suicide bombing in the Egyptian capital rose to three on Tuesday after an officer who was gravely injured in the attack succumbed to his wounds, a security official told EFE. 

The third policeman died hours after a suspect being chased by the police blew himself up in Cairo's al-Darb al-Ahmar neighbourhood, near al-Azhar mosque, late on Monday.

According to the Interior Ministry, the blast left another two members of the security forces injured.

The authorities identified the suicide bomber as foreign national Hassan Abdullah, 37, but gave no further details about his nationality.

Police had previously identified the man as the perpetrator of an attempted bombing last Friday at al-Istiqama mosque in the western part of Cairo, just as worshippers were leaving following noon prayers, the ministry said in a statement.

Egypt's state television aired footage of police chasing the suicide bomber, who was riding a bike. The assailant detonated his explosive device once he was detained by police. 

Following the attack, police forces cordoned off the area to search for other possible explosive devices planted around the scene.

No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion so far.

On Jan. 5, a police officer died as he tried to deactivate a bomb discovered near a Christian church in Cairo just two days ahead of the Coptic Christmas.

That incident came a week after the deaths of three Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian guide when a bomb went off a tour bus en route to the Giza Pyramids on the outskirts of the capital.

The Giza blast was Egypt's first attack against tourists using explosives since late 2015, when a bomb blew a Russian airliner out of the skies above Sinai, killing all 224 people aboard.

Egypt responded to the Giza incident with raids near Cairo and in Sinai that resulted in the deaths of 40 suspected extremists.

This nation of nearly 100,000 people has been under a state of emergency since April 2017, following a series of terrorist attacks against Coptic Christian churches in the Nile delta.

The Egyptian affiliate of Islamic State has claimed responsibility for most of the terrorist activity in the country during the last five years.