CAIRO
Security forces have rounded up 11 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group in fresh security sweeps, bringing the total number of group members detained over the past week to 178, according to Egypt’s Interior Ministry.
In a Sunday statement, the ministry announced that 11 Brotherhood members had been detained within the past 24 hours alone for committing and inciting alleged “acts of violence”.
The Egyptian government designated the Brotherhood, the country's oldest Islamist movement, a “terrorist organization” in late 2013.
Egyptian security forces have launched a fierce crackdown on the Brotherhood since the military ousted and imprisoned democratically-elected President Mohamed Morsi -- a Brotherhood leader -- in mid-2013.
In the more than two years since, security forces have killed hundreds -- and detained tens of thousands -- of Brotherhood members and Morsi supporters.
Scores of detainees have reportedly died in prison, the latest of whom was Essam Derbala, a Gamaa Islamiya leader and Morsi supporter who passed away Saturday.
According to Human Rights Watch, a total of 95 detainees died in Egyptian prisons last year, up by 40 percent from 2013.
