Seven men who allegedly belong to two “terrorist cells” based in Sharqia, in Egypt’s Delta, were arrested and their explosives storehouses were seized, according to a Tuesday statement by the police.
The defendants were implicated in the bombing of water pipelines in Sharqia’s Ramadan 10 and Belbais cities in Sharqia in August and November 2014, respectively, according to the Ministry of Interior’s statement.
They are also accused of detonating explosive devices at the gas pipelines of the two cities in January and March 2015, respectively.
The seized materials include 52 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) ready for detonation, 50 kilos of explosive chemical materials, and 200 liters of chemical material, electric circuits and other equipment.
The ministry occasionally announces arresting similar “terrorist cells” and dozens of “middle leaders” of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, who are allegedly responsible for coordinating attacks on public utilities.
Other than wide-scale attacks on the military and police in North Sinai, insurgent groups have claimed responsibility for major attacks in Cairo and the Delta, yet in rare occurrences, assaults on the police and public facilities across Egypt are believed by the police to be carried out by such “terrorist cells.”
