Two policemen were killed and three wounded when an explosive device carried by a militant they were pursuing exploded in the heart of the Egyptian capital on Monday, an interior ministry statement said.
According to the ministry, security forces were pursuing the man as part of the search for the perpetrator of an attempted attack against a police patrol in western Cairo on Friday.
At least three civilians were injured, security sources said.
Friday’s attempted attack left two policemen and three civilians with minor injuries when a homemade bomb exploded during an attempt to defuse it, security sources said at the time.
Egyptian security forces have been waging a campaign against Islamist militants over the past year focused on Egypt’s Sinai peninsula.
Attacks in the capital are relatively rare, though a roadside bomb in Giza killed three Vietnamese tourists and a Egyptian guide in December.