Gunmen kill Egypt security official in Cairo

An Egyptian officer in charge of the Muslim Brotherhood’s file at the Interior Ministry’s national security agency has been gunned down outside his home in a Cairo suburb.

Local security officials said Mohamed Mabruk was hit by seven bullets fired by three gunmen in the Cairo neighborhood of Nasr City.

Security sources said the attackers managed to flee the scene before policemen cordoned off the area.

The military-installed government has beefed up security in and around the violence-hit capital.

Security sources say the slain official had been involved in drafting the charges against ousted president, Mohamed Morsi, and the Muslim Brotherhood chief, Mohammed Badie, which led to trials for both of them.

Interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi has condemned Mabruk’s assassination at “treacherous hands.”

“The government will not tolerate criminal and terrorist groups who raise their arms to terrorize security officials,” Beblawi said in a statement.

No group has claimed responsibility for the late Sunday’s attack yet.

The development came after Egypt’s interim Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim survived an attack, which was carried out near his home in Cairo’s Nasr City district in early September.

The government of army-appointed interim President Adly Mansour has launched a fierce crackdown on the supporters of the ousted president and arrested many Muslim Brotherhood members, including the party’s supreme guide, Badie, who was detained on August 20.

Several Muslim Brotherhood leaders are on trial at Egyptian courts.

In his first public appearance four months after the Egyptian military toppled him, Morsi appeared at the courthouse in the police academy two weeks ago.

Morsi is currently in prison as he faces trial over involvement in the death of protesters outside the presidential palace in 2012.

Morsi’s supporters have been holding regular demonstrations to condemn the interim government’s harsh crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and the arrest of its leaders and members.

They have been demanding justice for Brotherhood supporters killed in the army crackdown following Morsi’s ouster in early July.