Egypt‘s Interior Ministry released a statement in which it confirmed that Egyptian security forces killed at least 17 Islamic militants in a widescale-operation against terror cells’ hideouts in the country’s capital, Cairo, and in Fayoum province, about 80 kilometers southwest of the capital.
The statement noted that the militants were members of a group called Hasm, which is accused of being behind an attack earlier in the week, in which a car packed with explosives detonated near Egypt’s main cancer-treatment medical institute in Cairo, killing at least 19 people and wounding more than thirty others.
According to eyewitnesses, moments before the explosion, the suspected vehicle almost collided with a minibus while driving against traffic near the medical facility. Injured eyewitness Ali Gaber recalled: “I was shocked and all cars behind me were on fire. Thank God I had the lesser damage, but all the people at the back died. Do not let anyone tell you anything else. Everyone died. Mostly they were children.” An additional unnamed eyewitness testified that “He [the terrorist] was driving in the opposite direction and nearly crashed into a small bus. The bus hit the pavement and the man ran out. It then exploded in this part.”
While Egypt’s public prosecutor, who is investigating the incident, accused the internationally recognized terror group Hasm of bearing responsibility for the heinous attack; The Islamist group, which has known links to the Muslim Brotherhood, denied all the allegations levelled against it.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement, in which he extended Israel’s “heartfelt condolences to the families of the innocent victims,” and wished “a speedy recovery to the injured.” Netanyahu further underscored that Jerusalem “stands by the Egyptian people in their battle against terrorism.”