Army Arrests 19 Armed Brotherhood Members: Military Spokesman

The spokesman for the Egyptian armed forces, Colonel Ahmed Ali, announced on Saturday that 19 armed members of the Muslim Brotherhood have been arrested in Ismailia.

Ali’s statement said that the 19 people were carrying automatic rifles, machine guns, police uniforms and explosive materials.

Ali added that three trucks and nine motorcycles that had been used in operations against the army and police were also confiscated.

According to media reports, several security checkpoints in the Suez Canal city were shot at by unknown armed groups late Friday.

Scores of police and army personnel have been killed as attacks on them intensified since the ouster of Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi last July.

In December, Egypt declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, accusing it of orchestrating the attacks against police and army.

The group has frequently denied any links to the assaults on police or army.

Thousands of the group’s members are behind bars, including dozens of senior figures.

On nday, state security prosecutors ordered the detention of 12 suspects accused of forming a military wing of the Brotherhood in Upper Egypt’s Beni Suef and carrying out an attack that killed five police officers in January.

Source : Ahram online