Egypt declares Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist group

Cairo – Egyptian Interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi Tuesday declared Muslim Brotherhood, the country’s oldest and most influential Islamist movement, as a terrorist group, official news agency MENA reported.

The announcement came after a powerful explosion ripped through a security headquarters in Egypt’s Nile Delta city of Mansoura early Tuesday, killing at least 14 people and injuring 130, reported Xinhua.

“The Brotherhood has shown its ugly face as a terrorist group and its acts will not weaken the Egyptian people’s determination to move forward,” Beblawi was quoted by his media adviser Sherif Shawqi as saying.

In October, the Egyptian authorities ordered to remove the Muslim Brotherhood from a government list of accredited non-governmental organizations.

Earlier, a Cairo court also ordered to ban all activities of the Brotherhood group, seize its funds and form a panel to administer its assets.

The semi-official Ahram newspaper posted on its website that three bombs had been planted out of which two went off almost at the same time.

The third one in a car nearby was defused, the website quoted an anonymous security official as saying.

The attack took place at the Nile Delta Governorate of Daqahliya, official news agency MENA said, adding that a nearby five-store bank building collapsed and dozens of vehicles were wrecked due to the strong explosion.

Most of the victims were police conscripts, Omar el-Shawatqi, governor of Daqahliya, told reporters.

“They have been rushed to nearby hospitals,” he said. Mansoura is the capital of the Daqahliya Governorate.

The head of Mansoura’s security directorate was among the injured and the toll is expected to increase, as more people are still trapped inside the building, he added.