Egypt police kill senior Muslim Brotherhood leader in raid

Egypt’s police have killed a senior Muslim Brotherhood leader and another member of the outlawed movement in a firefight in the capital Cairo.

Egypt's Interior Ministry said early on Tuesday that it shot dead the 61-year-old Mohamed Kamal, a member of Brotherhood's top leadership Guidance Bureau, a day before. 

Yasser Shehata, another leader of the group, was also killed in the raid that was conducted by the police on an apartment in Bassateen neighborhood of Cairo.

The Muslim Brotherhood had reported on its social media accounts on Monday afternoon that Kamal had disappeared. 

According to the ministry, Kamal had received life sentence on two counts in absentia. Shehata had been handed down a 10-year prison sentence in absentia as well.

The government has labelled the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist organization” following a military coup in July 2013 against Egypt’s first democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi, who was affiliated to the Brotherhood.

The coup against Morsi was led by then army chief and now President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi, who also launched a brutal crackdown on all Brotherhood members and supporters across the country.

SS