An Egyptian police brigadier-general was killed and five others were injured in two blasts occurred on Wednesday outside Cairo University, one of the most prominent and oldest universities in Egypt, State-run Nile TV said.

Tarik al-Margawy, head of Giza security headquarters, was killed in the blasts occurred in the vicinity of engineering faculty at Cairo University at the center of the Egyptian capital, the official source said, noting the blast aimed to assassinate the security chief.

A security official source told Xinhua the explosion of primitive bombs were behind the blast.

The source added the death toll may increase as the most of the injuries are in serious conditions.

The blasts hit the security checkpoint outside the university in Nahda square, one of the basic sit-ins venues for the supporters of the ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

Since the ouster of the Islamist leader by the army last July, wave of explosions hit the restive Sinai Peninsula against security men and their premises. Lately, the blasts moved to the capital and the Nile Delta cities.

A recent governmental report said the death toll from such attacks reached nearly 500 people, most of them soldiers and police.

The army has launched a large-scale operation since Morsi's removal to uproot the crime hideouts in the restive Sinai. The al- Qaida-inspired Ansar Beit al-Maqdis group claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.