CAIRO, Jan 23 (Aswat Masriya) - Five police conscripts and a female civilian were injured when a private vehicle exploded near a police car in Cairo late Friday, the Health Ministry said.

The six injured were taken to hospital, one of whom was moved to the intensive care due to his critical condition, the ministry added in a statement.

Gamal Halawa, deputy head of the civil protection administration, told Aswat Masriya that explosives experts combed the area surrounding the scene of the blast to check for other explosives.

Bombings and shootings targeting security forces have surged since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in July 2013.