MANSOURA, Egypt — A powerful blast tore through a police headquarters in an Egyptian Nile Delta city early Tuesday, killing 13 people, wounding more than 100 and leaving victims buried under rubble in the deadliest bombing yet in a months-long wave of violence blamed on Islamic militants.
Officials sought to pin the ultimate blame for the bombing on the government's top political nemesis, the Muslim Brotherhood, which has been leading a campaign of protests since the July ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The Brotherhood in turn accused the government of trying to scapegoat it to justify intensifying a crackdown.
At the funeral for the 12 policeman and one civilian killed, hundreds massed in a main square of the city of Mansoura where the bombing took place, chanting, "The people want to execute the Brotherhood." They raised posters reading "no to terrorist groups" and pictures of military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who removed Morsi and is the country's most powerful figure.