Two Muslim Brotherhood officials killed in 'shootout' with Egyptian security

Two Islamist Muslim Brotherhood officials have been killed by Egyptian security forces on Monday.

The Ministry of Interior said in a statement that the two, Kamal Mohamed and Shehata Yasser were killed after a shootout with the police in the south of Cairo.

“During the assault, the security forces were targeted and they retaliated,” the statement said.

Kamal is presented by the ministry as the founder and leader of the Muslim Brotherhood armed wing.

They added that he is wanted for his involvement in the assassination of Attorney General Hisham Barakat in June 2015 and also for the assassination attempt against the former Mufti of Egypt Ali Gomaa in August 2016.

Kamal was sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia in two trials for violence, the statement added.

Muslim Brotherhood has been classified as a terrorist group by the Egyptian government since 2013.

Thousands of its members have been detained and hundreds sentenced to death including former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi who was deposed in 2013 by army chief General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.