At least 13 people were arrested in Alexandria on Sunday morning accused of forming a militia targeting police and military personnel and facilities.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Interior confirmed that a special task force has uncovered and detained members of a “terrorist cell” attacking both security forces and businesses owned by individuals who support the current interim government.
A statement released by the Ministry of Interior claimed that the defendants admitted to receiving “commissioning and funding” from “terrorist Muslim Brotherhood officials” in the region.
Police confiscated two automatic rifles, four clips, and 150 rounds of ammunition, according to the statement.
Crimes against the accused include at least six separate incidents in which the accused attacked police cars, police departments, and private businesses with Molotov cocktails. The attacks left at least one person dead and six injured, read the statement.
The Ministry of Interior said that the prosecution has begun investigating the case, and security forces will “intensify efforts” to root out other members of the group.
Egypt has suffered from a rash of escalating terrorist attacks since the 3 July ouster of deposed president Mohamed Morsi. Security installations in the Sinai Peninsula have come under repeated attacks by militant groups.
Sinai-based militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has claimed several terrorist attacks in the last several months, including a September assassination attempt on Minster of the Interior Mohamed Ibrahim, the 24 December bombing of a police station in Mansoura that killed at least 16 people, the downing of a military helicopter in Sinai on 25 January, and a 16 February bus bombing in Taba that killed three Korean tourists and the Egyptian driver.
On 25 December, the day after the bombing of the Mansoura police station, the Muslim Brotherhood, already an illegal organisation, was officially declared a terrorist group.
