Third Party: Hasm movement admits torching of prisons, police stations during Jan. 25 Revolution

Doaa Imam

There was a widespread belief among many scholars and those interested in the affairs of the Islamic groups that the emergence of the Hasm movement, which is classified as terrorist, is due to the violence and extremism that followed the June 30 Revolution.

Despite the statement that was circulated by Egyptian and international media three years after this date about the movement’s perpetration of criminal operations in mid-July 2016, the mystery remains until now.

One of the terrorists, calling himself Khaled Saif al-Din, came out in an interview that is the first of its kind for a media platform that follows the viewpoints of the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood group Sayyed Qutb, describing himself as a spokesman for Hasm. He attributed the establishment of the terrorist group to the emergence of revolutionary action on January 28, 2011, where the dens of oppression and torture were burned and the aggression of the regime forces on the people was destroyed.

The talk of Saif al-Din revealed the hidden faces that succeeded at the time in implementing the escape plan of prisoners during the revolution of January 25, 2011, and even adopted the violence that took place. Those behind these acts of violence remained unknown and no terrorist group or political entity dared to declare its responsibility for them – something that opened the door to the emergence of several terms, including in the foremost the third party which is moving the events in secret.

Between the lines of the interview published by what is known as Turkish-based “Kalima Hak” magazine, Saif al-Din tried to “wash off the reputation of the Muslim Brotherhood” by talking about their non-subordination to the group and that they are an independent entity that is not affiliated with any party or faction.

He also described previous terrorist attacks as armed resistance to legitimize the terror of the movement.

Saif al-Din, however, contradicted the statement issued last September mourning the former Muslim Brotherhood leader, Mahdi Akef, calling him “Mandela and Guevara” and threatening to carry out terrorist attacks in retaliation for his death.

The movement was listed on the terrorist lists in the United Kingdom in December 2017, as classified by the United States of America earlier this year, in a measure reflecting a state of duplication. Although the confessions of those involved in the Hasm and Brigade of the Revolution movements said that they are affiliated to the Brotherhood, the US and British administrations classified the two movements only as terrorists without classifying the mother group.