Cairo: Egyptian security authorities smashed a suspected network promoting the ideology of Daesh Islamist militants in the country, legal sources have said.
The three-member ring allegedly sought to recruit Egyptians to be members of the group that controls large swathes of Syria and Iraq.
The Egyptian suspects, who had spent six months fighting alongside radical Islamists in Syria, admitted in probes that they had been tasked by Daesh leaders to set up a branch of the group in Egypt.
Police investigations revealed that the trio had travelled to Syria via Turkey and returned to Egypt last January to recruit new members, the sources said.
They purportedly spray-painted walls of public buildings slogans praising Daesh chief Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, the self proclaimed caliph, and attacked power pylons in Giza, south of Cairo. They were staying in an apartment in the Cairo suburban area of October 6 when they were arrested earlier this week, the sources added.
The suspects were charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation, possessing weapons and anti-government leaflets as well as involvement in subversive acts.
Prosecutors ordered them be kept in custody for 15 days pending further investigations.
Egyptian officials have repeatedly played down Daesh influence in the country amid reports that hundreds of young Egyptians have joined the radical group in the past two months.
Egypt is grappling with attacks by local militant groups targeting mainly security forces.
