The UK announced on Friday it has added the Egyptian terror groups Hasm and Lewaa El-Thawra to its list of proscribed terrorist organizations as part of its continuous efforts to strengthen its response to international terrorism. In an official press release, the UK Embassy in Cairo said the UK government has concluded that these groups meet its criteria for proscription after reviewing evidence of attacks carried out by the two groups against Egyptian security forces and public figures. The embassy added that the proscription will enhance the UK government's capacity to disrupt the activities of these terrorist organisations. “We said we will not leave Egypt alone on the frontline in its battle against terrorism and we meant it. Today we use the full force of UK law against two terrorist groups that have murdered many in Egypt and are the enemy of us all,” UK envoy to Egypt John Casson said, adding that the designation would strengthen joint efforts to uproot terrorism and the ideologies that feed it. Hasm, which has been designated by Egypt as a terror group in February 2017 following a court order, has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against Egyptian security personnel in recent months, mostly targeting police checkpoints. Egyptian security forces have arrested and killed dozens of suspected Hasm members in the past few months, with officials linking the group to the banned Muslim Brotherhood group. In November 2016, the once little-known armed group Lewaa al-Thawra (Revolution Brigade) claimed responsibility for the assassination of a top Egyptian army commander of Sinai-based forces outside his home in the outskirts of Cairo. Egypt's police announced a month later that its forces had killed two of the assassins during a shootout with police at a farm in Menoufiya's El-Sadat City, north of Cairo.
