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Egyptian security forces killed two suspected militants and a civilian bystander during a raid in Cairo that authorities said disrupted a plot by a group linked to an outlawed terrorist group, the Interior Ministry announced Sunday.
The operation targeted what police described as a "militant hideout" in Bulaq al-Dakrour, a densely populated neighborhood in the Egyptian capital. The ministry did not specify when the raid occurred.
According to the ministry statement, the two suspects "began firing randomly at the forces and the surrounding area" during the operation, leading to their deaths along with that of a passerby caught in the crossfire.
The raid was conducted based on intelligence indicating that the Hasm movement was "preparing to revive its activities and commit hostile operations targeting security and economic facilities" within Egypt, the ministry said.
Hasm, which Egyptian authorities consider a terrorist organization with ties to a terrorist group, was responsible for a series of assassination attempts and bombings between 2016 and 2019 before largely disappearing from public view.
The ministry identified five additional leaders allegedly involved in the plot, all of whom had previously received life sentences in absentia for attacks that followed the 2013 military overthrow of President Mohamed Morsi.
One of the killed suspects had reportedly received advanced military training "in a neighboring country" before illegally crossing into Egypt to carry out planned attacks, according to the ministry.
The announcement followed the circulation of a video on social media this month that appeared to show Hasm members conducting live-fire training exercises in a desert location.
After Morsi's removal from power, the terrorist group was banned in Egypt, leading to mass arrests of its members while others fled to countries including Türkiye and Qatar. President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi's government has since positioned itself as a defender of stability and security.
However, rights groups have criticized the more than decade-long security crackdown, saying it has eliminated virtually all space for political dissent in the country.
The Interior Ministry has not released further details about the specific nature of the alleged plot or the timeline of the suspects' activities.
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