Police killed three alleged members of the local militant Hasm Movement group, the Ministry of Interior said Monday. This came amid a gunfire exchange between the suspects and police forces chasing them, the ministry explained.
The statement comes one day after the group published its own statement on Twitter, claiming to have targeted the Myanmar embassy in Cairo’s Zamalek district. The group stated that it detonated a planted an explosive device near the embassy, saying this should be a warning to those persecuting the Rohingya.
An explosion sound was indeed reported to have been heard on Saturday evening – around the same time the group said it conducted its militant insurgency but the media later cited an unnamed ministry official claiming the explosion took place inside an uninhabited apartment in the district, due to gas leak.
Meanwhile, the ministry said Monday’s killed suspects who were planning attacks soon were among the “leading, most important” group members. The group’s affiliated Twitter account seems to have been suspended, although it was still working on Sunday.
Police carried several similar raids against group members, saying it targeted them based on information collected by the National Security body and after obtaining prosecution authorities’ permission to arrest them, but that the suspects opened fire on police.