Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — The Muslim Brotherhood has organized squads to attack
Egypt’s police and military.

Officials said the Egyptian intelligence community has determined that
the Brotherhood organized fighters to target police and military throughout
the country.

The officials said the squads were trained and equipped to ambush patrols and facilities of the security forces amid the regime crackdown on the Brotherhood.

“The Brotherhood has maintained such squads for years, but over the last 18 months, the number of terrorist units increased significantly,” an official said.

On Aug. 16, a suspected Brotherhood squad ambushed a police patrol in the Ismailiya province near the Suez Canal. Officials said a senior police officer was killed and several others were injured.

On Aug. 19, 24 Egyptian police officers were killed in a suspected Islamist ambush in the Sinai Peninsula near the Gaza Strip.

This marked the second purported Brotherhood operation against police in
Ismailiya. A previous strike injured at least five officers.

Officials said the Brotherhood has targeted police stations and
facilities of the Central Security Forces. They said at least 50 soldiers
and police officers were killed and scores of police stations attacked since
the military stormed Brotherhood protest camps in Cairo on Aug. 14.

The intelligence community was said to have assessed that the
Brotherhood, backed by other insurgents, could sustain an Islamist offensive
similar to that in Egypt in the 1980s and 1990s. Officials said the
Brotherhood was recruiting both movement members as well as young Muslims
ready to attack the government for pay.

“The Brotherhood has a network throughout Egypt, and while many
supporters do not seek violence, there is a sizable number who, if paid,
will conduct terrorist attacks,” the official said.

  Central Security Forces, Egypt intel: Muslim Brotherhood attack squads targeting security forces, Gaza Strip, Ismailiya province, Sinai Peninsula