Egyptian police killed two senior members of the Hasm militant group as they tried to move to a new hideout on Cairo's outskirts, AFP reported Tuesday (July 18th).
The interior ministry said authorities acted after learning that some Hasm leaders were about to move "equipment and weapons" to a new hideout in New Cairo, outside the capital's ring road.
Security forces set up checkpoints on roads to the area, and as forces approached a suspect car, "its passengers opened fire" on police and were killed in retaliatory fire.
The two were identified as students aged 24 and 21 who were "among the most prominent leaders in the Hasm terrorist group", the ministry said.
In the vehicle, police found seven automatic weapons, two other firearms, a large amount of ammunition, masks and radio equipment.
The ministry did not say when the shootout took place, but said the group had been planning to move locations on Tuesday.
The militants who died were said to have been behind attacks including a shootout in early May in which three policemen were killed and five wounded near the Cairo ring road.
The pair had carried out attacks on the orders of "their leaders who have fled abroad", the ministry said.
The group took to social media on Monday to claim it has killed 27 people from Egypt's security forces since its launch a year ago.
