Egypt dismantles Brotherhood terror cells
Suspects planned terror attacks on anniversary of 2011 uprising
Cairo: Egyptian security authorities said Wednesday they uncovered groups that had planned terrorist attacks in the country on orders from fugitive Muslim Brotherhood leaders living in Turkey.
The attacks were planned to be carried out in next week’s anniversary of the 2011 uprising that forced president Hosni Mubarak to step down with the aim of “undermining security and stability and spreading chaos” in Egypt, the Interior Ministry said.
Elements linked to the outlawed Brotherhood inside Egypt had been ordered to spread false news against the state institutions and set up Facebook pages aimed at organising street protests, instigating riots and disrupting public transport, the ministry added in a statement.
The suspects were also instructed to set up instigating electronic groups carrying the names of the “Popular Movement and The Joker”.
The militant Hasm group, the Brotherhood’s armed wing, was, meanwhile, instructed to mount a series of terrorist operations targeting public figures, places of worship and key state buildings, the ministry said, blaming the group for killing three people in Qaliubia north of Cairo last November.
The ministry named seven Brotherhood leaders in Turkey, accusing them of standing behind the destabilising plots.
A number of those involved inside the country have been arrested and police found in their possession weapons, ammunition masks, knives, a drone, cameras as well as sophisticated mobile phones fitted to be hooked up with Brotherhood satellite TV stations and websites.
Hundreds of the Brotherhood leaders and followers have been rounded up and tried in different cases in Egypt since the army’s 2013 overthrow of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi after enormous street protests against his rule.