海角大神

A daily update on terrorism and security issues

A public bus was bombed in Cairo today, bringing civilians into the crosshairs of a campaign of violence that also聽targeted a police compound in the Nile Delta two days ago. In the interim between those attacks, Egypt's new government declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization, potentially sending the nation's powerhouse political group deeper underground than any in recent period. 聽聽

The military-backed government would have Egyptians believe that the series of events go hand-in-hand, despite the fact that a militant group with no ties to the Brotherhood claimed responsibility for Tuesday's police bombing.

There have been regular attacks against security targets since the July military takeover of the government, which expelled Muslim Brotherhood-backed President Mohamed Morsi. But today's bus bombing was the first to hit something other than a police or military target, and the police bombing on Tuesday was the deadliest attack since July, with 16 killed, according to the Associated Press.

Journalists and other observers commented on Twitter that the bombings were becoming the "new normal" of Egypt.

In today's attack in the Cairo district of Nasr City, a homemade bomb went off as a public bus drove by, shattering the windows on the bus. At least one more bomb was found nearby, likely intended to be defused as security forces arrived at the scene, Egyptian state TV reported

No group has claimed responsibility yet, but Tuesday's attack was claimed by聽Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the "most prominent" of the Sinai-based militant groups that have been gradually escalating their campaign against the state. AP reports that the group "announced it carried out Tuesday's suicide bombing in Mansoura to avenge the 'shedding of innocent Muslim blood' at the hands of Egypt's 'apostate regime' -- a reference to the security forces' crackdown on Islamists following the coup."

The New York Times reports that聽it threatened similar attacks in the future聽in posts on online militant forums, "warning Egyptians to stay away from security buildings 'to preserve your sacred lives and blood'."

海角大神 reported Tuesday that the Al Qaeda linked group has claimed responsibility for many attacks in urban areas, including the attempted assassination of the interior minister in October, and that there have been more than 260 attacks in the Sinai peninsula since the military takeover.聽

Although various militant groups have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks since July, and the Brotherhood has repeatedly denied involvement, the government "contends that the Brotherhood is a national security threat, working with militant groups to organize the campaign of violence, though it has provided no evidence," according to AP.聽

Tuesday's attack on the police compound in Mansoura seemed to hand a propaganda victory to the government. After months of branding Brotherhood members and supporters "terrorists," on Wednesday it officially designated it as a terrorist organization. The group's political affiliate polled ahead of other parties in Egypt's first free parliamentary elections held in 2012, underscoring its popular appeal after decades of operating underground.聽

The organization has been besieged since July, with its top leaders -- including Mr. Morsi -- either imprisoned or driven underground. In September the group was聽formally outlawed.聽

Thousands of members and supporters have been imprisoned, and hundreds have been killed, The New York Times reports. But Wednesday's terrorist designation is a blow, even by those standards.

Khalil al-Anani, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington who studies the Brotherhood, warned that the government's move could set Egypt on a path toward "civil conflict." 鈥淭his is a big miscalculation from the government,鈥� he told The New York Times. 鈥淚t is a massive social movement, whose supporters might retaliate or fight back.鈥�

An exiled leader of the movement,聽聽Ibrahim Munir, told Agence France-Presse from London聽that protests would continue, calling the designation "illegitimate."

Reuters sounds the alarm in an analysis piece surveying Egypt's political landscape: