Police forces on Friday killed four militants during a security operation that aimed at arresting them. According to a statement issued on the Ministry of Interior’s Facebook page, they were attacked during a meeting in Giza governorate where they planned to carry out terrorist attacks.
The statement noted that the security raid occurred after receiving accurate information that a leading figure of an extremist cell, named Samih Mohamed Farahat, was planning to hold a meeting with his cell’s members in El Mansouria district in the Giza governorate to coordinate a massive militant attack in the upcoming period.
“After receiving such information, the security institutions obtained permission from the General Prosecution to execute a raid that aimed at arresting the cell’s members; however, when the militants realised that forces approached their stationing point, they immediately opened fire,” the ministry’s statement read.
As a result, the security forces opened fire themselves, which resulted in the death of the cell’s head and a further three alleged militants, according to the statement.
“A number of weapons and bombs were found among the killed militants. This included two guns, one machine gun, and a grenade,” the statement read.
Frequent security raids against militants’ stationing points in Cairo and Giza have taken place since the ouster of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Some of the raids that aimed at arresting alleged terrorists ended in shootings after militants opened fire on the approaching security forces.
Earlier in December 2016, The Ministry of Interior identified a man killed in a police raid as a member of militant group Hasm. The raid had targeted a flat in 6th of October City on the outskirts of Cairo in Giza governorate and resulted in the killing of a police conscript and an alleged militant. The militant was identified by the ministry as Mohamed Abdul Khaleq Farag Ali, born in 1990.
The ministry stated he was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and a leading figure of its affiliated groups, including Hasm and the Kerdasa Armed Operations Unit—accusations over which the security forces wanted to arrest him.
The police said it raided the militant’s apartment upon authorisation from the prosecution, and this was based on information by Homeland Security officers about the targeted apartment being used to plan attacks against judiciary officials and military and police forces.
