Egypt’s court declares ‘Hasm’ is terrorist organisation

The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters has designated on Saturday the militant group “Hasm”, which claimed responsibility for a number of deadly attacks on security forces as well as assassination attempts on public figures over the past year, as a terrorist group.

The little-known group claimed the assassination attempt on the deputy prosecutor general in September 2016 as well as the assassination attempt on leading Islamic cleric Ali Gomaa in August of the same year.

In December 2016, Hasm also claimed responsibility for a deadly explosion at a police checkpoint in the Haram district in Giza, which killed six policemen and left four injured.

In mid-January, the High State Security Prosecution referred 304 people to military trials for alleged membership in Hasm.

Last week, Cairo Court for Urgent Matters also designated a group calling itself the “Popular Resistance” a terrorist organisation.

The group, which was formed in 2014, first gained widespread attention in June 2015 when it claimed responsibility for the murder of the country’s chief prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, in Cairo.

Since 2013, the Egyptian government has linked most of the militant groups in the country which announced responsibility for attacks on security forces to the banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation.

The government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation in December 2013 as the government blamed the group for a number of deadly attacks on security forces in the aftermath of the ouster of Islamist former president Mohamed Morsi in July of that year.

Source: Ahram Online