Muslim Brotherhood formed armed wing: Cairo

Egypt’s military-backed interim government has accused the Muslim Brotherhood of forming a military wing to stage attacks on the country’s security forces.

On Sunday, the Interior Ministry said that the armed unit had been discovered in the southern province of Beni Suef and described it as a Brotherhood-led unit.

The ministry also named 12 people that belonged to the unit, accusing them of killing five policemen in the province last month and plotting more attacks.

Sunday’s accusation is likely to increase pressure on the group already facing a massive crackdown.

On December 25, Egypt’s military-appointed government listed the Muslim Brotherhood as a “terrorist” organization over alleged involvement in a deadly bombing, without investigating or providing any evidence.

The Brotherhood has always denied such allegations, saying it will continue with peaceful protests until its demands are met. It has accused the authorities of orchestrating attacks to justify the crackdown on the group.

Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since July 3 when the army ousted the country’s first democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the parliament. It also appointed the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court Adly Mahmoud Mansour as the new interim president.

Thousands of members of the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters have been arrested and accused of inciting unrest in the North African country.

Amnesty International has criticized Egyptian authorities for using an “unprecedented scale” of violence against protesters and dealing “a series of damaging blows to human rights.”

According to the UK-based rights group, 1,400 people have been killed in the political violence since Morsi’s ouster, “most of them due to excessive force used by security forces.”