Egypt arrests militants, links them to Muslim Brotherhood

Egyptian authorities said on Friday they had arrested members of two recently emerged militant groups, along with weapons, explosives and evidence that the organizations had been set up by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Police detained five leaders and other members of the Hasam Movement and Louwaa al-Thawra, the Interior Ministry said – both groups that have claimed responsibility for assassination attempts on judges, policemen and military officers.

There was no immediate comment from either organization or from the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, which says it is a peaceful movement and accuses the government of abuses.

Both Hasam – an acronym in Arabic for the Forearms of Egypt Movement which doubles as the word for decisiveness – and Louwaa al-Thawra, or the Revolution Brigade, have claimed responsibility for attacks, saying they are taking revenge for the government crackdown.

Earlier on Friday, a judge who tried Mursi survived an assassination attempt when a parked car exploded as his vehicle drove by. Hasam claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened other judges.

Public Prosecutor Hisham Barakat, who referred many Brotherhood leaders to trial, was killed in June 2015 by a car bomb. The Interior Ministry said on Friday it found letters from Brotherhood leaders admitting it carried out the assassination.

Also on Friday, a senior Egyptian general was shot dead by militants on Friday near his home in North Sinai where an Islamic State insurgency is raging, the second such incident in as many weeks.