(Photo from Interior Ministry)
Police forces in New Cairo’s Al-Rehab City arrested a man on Friday for alleged involvement in assassinating Homeland Security Officer Mohamed Mabrouk.
According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Interior, police forces engaged in a five-hour-gunfight with the suspect, Ahmed Ezzat Mohamed Shaaban, near the villa he used as hideout, leaving one police officer and two police conscripts injured before the arrest was made.
Police forces found six machine guns, nine hand grenades, an RPG, two time-bombs and 100 kilograms of TNT in Shaaban’s possession. Multiple guns, money and equipment used in manufacturing explosives were also found.
Mabrouk, a senior-ranking Homeland Security officer, was shot dead on 17 November in the East Cairo district of Nasr City near his home.
In a press conference on 23 November, Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim announced that a “jihadist cell” led by Mohamed Fathi Al-Shazli was responsible for Mabrouk’s assassination, adding that the ministry would arrest more members of the cell.
Ibrahim confirmed that Mabrouk was a witness in the Wadi Al-Natrun case, in which former President Mohamed Morsi is accused of spying for the Gaza Strip governing movement Hamas. Ibrahim said that the assassinated officer was a part of the team working on that case. He announced that “extra-procedures” are being taken to ensure the safety of Homeland Security personnel.
The ministry’s Friday statement added that another man, Mohamed Abdel Ghany Abdel Kader, was also arrested in Giza on Friday for alleged involvement in the Al-Warraq Church shooting and a bombing attempt near Imbaba Police Station.
Abdel Kader, who is also known as “Mohamed Tabarak” and “Ramzy” according to the ministry’s statement, is involved in the Al-Warraq church shooting on 20 October, which left four dead and 17 injured. Abdel Kader is also involved in a bombing attempt that targeted Imbaba Police Station on 27 September, by implanting a remote bomb near the police station. The bomb was deactivated before its explosion.
Ministry of Interior spokesman Hany Abdel Latif told Daily News Egypt that Abdel Kader is not the only perpetrator of the Al-Warraq church shooting, adding that he is a part of an organised “jihadist cell” that is “well known” to the ministry.
