Hassm member killed in house raid: Interior Ministry

A member of the militant group Hassm was killed in a shootout on Wednesday when the police raided his home in Cairo. Ahmed Suwailem was accused of participating in several attacks, including one on a police patrol in Nasr City earlier in May, according to Interior Ministry statement.

Hassm has claimed responsibility for several attacks on police forces throughout the past year, most recently the assassination of an officer from the National Security Agency in Qalubiya governorate last week. The militant group published photos of Ibrahim Azazi on 8 July, claiming they were taken while tracking him ahead of his assassination.

“A motorcycle shootout targeted Ibrahim Azazi as he left his home for Friday prayers, killing him instantly,” the Interior Ministry statement read.

Since then, the ministry of interior has announced the killing of two Hassm members in a shootout with security forces on the outskirts of Greater Cairo on Saturday and one member in Fayoum on Tuesday.

The armed militant organization has claimed responsibility for a drive-by shooting in Nasr City on the 1st of May, which killed two commissioned police officers and one enlisted officer stationed at a checkpoint. The attack was carried out by a then newly-formed squad, named The Hawks of Determination, said Hassm in the statement.

Hassm, which became active in 2016, has claimed responsibility for several similar operations targeting police personnel since July 2016. In March, the group claimed responsibility for the bombing of a checkpoint in Behteem, on the outskirts of Giza. Hassm also claimed an attack on a checkpoint in Haram last December that killed six police personnel. They also attempted to assassinate the general prosecutor Zakaria Osman by targeting his procession in September 2016, as well as attempting to assassinate the former grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa, near his home in August 2016.