Pope Francis condemns bomb attack against Italian Consulate in Cairo

Pope Francis has expressed his strong condemnation of a terror attack outside the Italian Consulate in Cairo.

The Pope sent a cable to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in this regard.

In the cable, the Pope said he was deeply concerned by this attack and urged "political and religious players at all levels to join together and redouble their efforts to fight the plague of terrorism and promote peace and solidarity."

Pope Francis also expressed "his sincere compassion to all the families and people affected by these blind acts of violence and assured them of his prayers."

According to the initial inspection of the prosecution, a car bomb exploded in front of the Italian consulate in Cairo earlier on Saturday, killing one person and injuring nine others.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the early morning blast, which caused heavy damage to the consulate. It shook other buildings downtown and could be heard in several surrounding neighborhoods.

Italy's Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said there were no Italian victims in the blast. "Italy will not be intimidated," he said on Twitter.