Cairo: An Egyptian Islamist militant group on Thursday confirmed the death of its leader, who police had said was killed in a gunfight with security forces here four days ago.
On Sunday, the Interior Ministry had announced that Hammam Mohamed Attiyah was killed in a Cairo apartment when security forces raided it, without saying when.
Police say the 33-year-old leader previously belonged to Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the Egyptian branch of the Islamic State group, but broke away in 2013 to found Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) -- a small group operating mainly in Cairo.
Ajnad Misr in a post on Twitter announced that Attiyah was killed in the raid and that the militant group has chosen Ezz al-Din al-Masry as his successor, without providing any details about him.
They also said the bomb attack that hit?Zamalek district on April 5 and killed a policeman, was to avenge their leader's death. The bomb?attack targeted a security point on?15 May?bridge in Zamalek.
Ajnad Misr says its attacks are in retaliation for a brutal government crackdown targeting supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.
Hundreds of Islamists have been killed and thousands jailed in the crackdown since the army ousted Morsi in 2013.
Earlier, police said that 18 grenades and a large amount of firearms were seized from Attiyah's residence following the raid. Attiyah?was being pursued for two years.
He consistently changed locations, as the police detected his whereabouts three times but he managed to escape before the raids, according to the police report.
