Leading Hasm militant 'planning terror attacks' killed in shootout with police in Egypt's Fayoum

A leading member of the Hasm militant group has been killed in a shootout with police forces in Egypt's Fayoum governorate, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.

The National Security Agency had received intelligence that the group's members were set to meet in Fayoum's village of Sinnuris to plan terror attacks, according to the ministry.

The slain leader was responsible for recruiting young members and sending them to training camps affiliated with the group, the ministry added.

This comes only days after a similar operation left two Hasm militants dead following a shootout with police forces outside Cairo.

The militants, aged 28 and 22, were killed after firing their weapons at the police officers while they were being apprehended on the Dahshour 6th October Road, according to the interior ministry's statement at the time.

The police claimed they were searching the area upon receiving intelligence that an imminent attack was being planned.

The shootouts came shortly after Hasm claimed responsibility for the assassination of a National Security officer.

"The Hasm assassination squad has carried out a field execution of the criminal captain Ibrahim Azazi as he left his house in Qalyubia... One bullet in his black hear and three in the head," the group said.

Ibrahim Azazi was killed in a drive-by shooting on Friday as he left his home in the Qalubiya governorate north of Cairo.

Last month, Hasm claimed responsibility for an attack that killed two police officers and injured three conscripts in Cairo.

The unidentified assailants planted an explosive device in the upscale Cairo suburb of Maadi, detonating it remotely when the police vehicle drove by, the group said at the time.

It vowed more attacks in the coming months.

Egypt has been facing a deadly Islamist insurgency that has killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the army overthrew President Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and crackdown on his supporters.

In February, an Egyptian court declared Hasm a terrorist organisation, alleging it was linked to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Little is known about the movement but analysts distinguish them with militant organisations such as the Islamic State group which has a presence in the Sinai.

All of the Hasm's attacks have been on military and security targets, while it has been portrayed as a more national-focused anti-government movement, although many suspect it is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood.

On Saturday, security forces killed 14 alleged members of the Islamic State group, only a day after more than 20 soldiers were killed in an attack in the Sinai Peninsula, one of deadliest against the military in years.