Former anti-corruption czar injured in Egypt attack

The former chief of Egypt's anti-corruption agency was injured in an attack in eastern Cairo on Saturday, according to his lawyer.

Hisham Geneina, the former head of the Central Auditing Organization (CAO), came under a knife attack by three thugs near his home in First Settlement in eastern Cairo, Ali Taha told Anadolu Agency.

He said the former anti-corruption czar has suffered face bleeding and a broken leg.

There was no comment from Egyptian authorities on the attack.

Saturday's attack came days after Geneina was announced to run as an aide to former army chief of staff Sami Anan in this year's presidential election.

Last week, the army accused Anan of committing several "irregularities" after the ex-army chief announced plans to contest the election, and detained him for questioning.

In early 2016, Geneina was sacked from his post as CAO chief by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi after he said that corruption from 2012 to 2015 had cost Egypt up to 600 billion pounds ($75 billion).

Al-Sisi reacted with forming a fact-finding commission, which accused Geneina of falsifying information and distorting facts. The panel said the former CAO chief's statements were "misleading" and "lacked credibility".