CAIRO: Two bombs exploded Wednesday outside the Cairo University's engineering faculty, killing at least two people, a civilian and a senior police officer, security officials said.

The bombs, which were planted by the roadside, went off second apart and targeted riot police routinely deployed at the location in anticipation of near-daily protests by students supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group.

The slain police officer was a brigadier- general, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The blasts also wounded people — four civilians and three senior police officers, including Maj. Gen. Abdel-Raouf El-Sirafy who is the deputy chief of police in the Giza province, parts of which are located in the Greater Cairo area. Cairo University's main campus is in Giza.

Egyptian state TV said the bombs were crude and homemade.

The attack takes to a new level the violence which has come to define protests by students in the nearly nine months since the military ousted Morsi.

The military-backed interim government has branded the Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, alleging it has plotted violence since Morsi's removal.

The Brotherhood denies the claims, saying the prosecutions are intended to give a legal veneer to the removal an elected president.