Security forces on Tuesday found a box containing Molotov cocktails and a homemade bomb near Egypt's High Court in downtown Cairo, according to Alaa Abdel Zaher, head of the explosives department at the ministry of interior, who spoke with Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.
Zaher said that an explosives expert and bomb-sniffing dogs discovered the box and moved it to another location, before dismantling the bomb.
The bomb was taken away by security officials for further forensic processing and the area near the court house was cleared.
Earlier on Tuesday, police fired teargas to disperse dozens of supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi who had gathered near the High Court as the trial of the toppled leader was set to begin at a police academy in the eastern New Cairo district.
Before being dispersed, the protesters had hurled stones at the riot police stationed in large numbers around the court house.
Morsi's trial on Tuesday is for charges of enlisting the help of the Palestinian group Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah to break out of prison in the early days of the January 2011 uprising. The same trial also sees him accused of intent to murder police officers, as well as destroying prison facilities.
Morsi also faces three other trials for a variety of charges, ranging from attempted murder, espionage and inciting violence.
Bombings and assassination attempts have increased dramatically after Morsi's 3 July ouster amid mass protests against his rule, with militants targeting security buildings and officers. However, the attacks have lately begun to target civilians as well, as the unrest moves from the restive Sinai Peninsula, where most militant groups are based, to the Nile Delta and Cairo.
Four bombs rocked Cairo on the eve of the third anniversary of the 25 January uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. The largest of the bomb attacks on Cairo's central police headquarters killed six people and left nearby buildings, including the Museum of Islamic Arts, in shambles.
On Tuesday, an interior ministry aide was killed in a drive-by shooting. General Mohamed Said, head of the interior ministry's technical office, was leaving his home in Giza's Haram district when two assailants rode by on a motorcycle and opened fire.
Short link: