CAIRO: Two Egyptian police officers were killed on Monday while trying to defuse makeshift bombs planted near Cairo's presidential palace by militants close to the anniversary of the army's overthrow of President Mursi.

The militant group Ajnad Misr, or Soldiers of Egypt, said it had planted several bombs near the presidential palace to target security forces before realizing that civilians could be in danger. It later released a statement saying it had been unable to remove the devices and urging passersby to be cautious.

"There are two explosive devices ... at the corner of the palace at the intersection of Al-Ahram and Al-Merghani streets", read the statement that appeared on its Twitter account.

One police officer was killed as security forces tried to deactivate a bomb found at that location, and a second officer was killed during a similar operation in a nearby street, the Interior Ministry said.

Monday was the first anniversary of mass street protests against Mursi's rule that brought about his removal by the armed forces on July 3.

It was not immediately clear if the president was at the palace at the time of explosion.

Police officials had said the first bomb also wounded three street cleaners while the second device also left three officers injured.