EGYPT DETAINS 63 MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD MEMBERS

Cairo, 19 Ramadan 1436/6 July 2015 (MINA) –Egyptian security forces have detained 63 members of Muslim Brotherhood in separate security sweeps, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.

In a statement, the ministry said the individuals had been detained for committing and inciting acts violence.

The latest spate of arrests comes only a few days after Egyptian security forces shot nine Brotherhood members dead in an apartment west of Cairo. Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

The arrests also follow separate militant attacks that left the country’s top prosecutor and 17 soldiers dead.

Egypt has been dogged by turmoil since the military overthrew democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi in mid-2013.

Since Morsi’s ouster, Egyptian authorities have waged a relentless crackdown on political dissent largely targeting Morsi supporters and members of his Muslim Brotherhood group which has seen hundreds killed and thousands thrown behind bars.

The Muslim Brotherhood was designated a “terrorist organisation” by the Egyptian government in late 2013. The Brotherhood, for its part, insists it is committed to purely peaceful activism. (T/P002/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)