One killed in bomb blast in Egypt textile hub

A bomb blast in front of a mobile phone service store in Egypt’s textile town of Mahallah killed one person and wounded another 11 people on Friday, police said.

Militants have regularly set off bombs in Egyptian cities, mostly targeting police, since the 2013 military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi unleashed a deadly government crackdown on his supporters.

Friday’s bomb was set off late at night on the main street of Mahallah, a textile hub 115 kilometres (70 miles) north of Cairo.

The explosion went off in front of a mobile phone service store and a bank, police said.

One person was killed and 11 people were wounded, a police officer said.

Health ministry official Khalid al-Khateb confirmed that at least seven people were wounded in the bombing.

In recent weeks bombs have been set off near mobile phone service outlets in Cairo, although they have been rudimentary.

Mahallah, a town in the Nile Delta, has been a site of regular labour strikes for years.

A massive strike there in 2008 is seen as a precusor to the 2011 uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak.

The town has not seen militant attacks as in some other cities including Cairo, Alexandria and even in the Nile Delta.

A massive bombing in the city of Mansoura in the Nile Delta in December 2013 killed scores of policemen.

Militants have mainly targeted security forces since the ouster of Morsi by then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in July 2013.

They said their attacks are in retaliation to a government crackdown against supporters of Morsi that has left hundreds dead.