Police operation kills Hasm leader: Interior Ministry

CAIRO – 11 July 2017: A Hasm terrorist group leader was killed during a police operation Tuesday morning, according to a statement released by the Interior Ministry.

"Per our strategy of proactive strikes against the Hasm terrorist group affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood, we got information regarding a meeting of a number of the terrorist group members on the Ring Road in the Fayoum governorate," the ministry statement read.

Police forces went to the meeting location of the armed group; however, a number of the terrorists began shooting at the police forces, according to the statement, so the police exchanged fire, which led to the murder of one of the group’s leaders, while two others escaped.

According to the statement, Hasm was aiming to train a number of young people in its desert camps in the use of arms to be used later in terrorist attacks; however, this operation foiled their attempts.

Several police ambushes spread out on the streets along the governorate in order to arrest the two escapees.

Hasm is an armed group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. They announced their responsibility for a number of terrorist attacks that took place in Egypt during the past period. On June 19, the terrorist group said in statement published on its Facebook page that they take responsibility for the killing of two police officers. The terrorists targeted a Central Security Forces (CSF) vehicle on the Autostrad Road near the Cairo suburb of Maadi. Four security personnel were also injured.

“We struck once again deep into Cairo, after having given an earlier warning,” the group wrote on its official Facebook page.

Several terrorist groups other than Hasm were announced as being affiliated with the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood has been outlawed since 2013. The military ousted one of its leaders, Mohamed Morsi, from the presidency following mass protests.