The emergence of a new Egyptian militant group has sparked mixed reactions with some observers arguing that it is a normal development due to the continued confrontation between the Muslim Brotherhood group and the authorities. Others, however, claimed that the new group could have been formed by the security authorities with the aim of distorting the image of Islamists. On 14 August, a video posted on YouTube featured a group of masked gunmen threatening to target security forces in southern Cairo in retaliation for what they called the "atrocities" committed by the police and army against peaceful demonstrators and prisoners. The group calls itself "Helwan Brigades". The group's emergence coincided with the first anniversary of the deadly dispersal of two protest camps organized by supporters of deposed president Muhammad Morsi in August last year. The dispersal left hundreds dead and thousands injured. The three-minute video featured twelve masked gunmen dressed in black and carrying AK-47 guns. Some passers-by appear in the video. One of the group members stood in the front and said: "We are fed up with the Brotherhood's peaceful demonstrating. We are not Brotherhood members. We go to the streets, but the blood is shed, women are nabbed and raped, and money is stolen. This is a warning to the police and police stations in southern Cairo: You are targeted." "You are targeted because of what you did," he said, adding: "You did not fear God. You did not care about anything. You shed the blood. And you even caused Muslim women to become pregnant." "You are coupists and your army is the army of Camp David which did not fire a single bullet at the Jews," the man said. Camp David refers to the peace treaty concluded between Egypt and Israel. "Our life has become in poverty. People are paying the price. So, there should be a sect from the people to pay back," he said. Addressing the police forces, the man said: "You drove peaceful people like us to carry arms to defend our women and to defend this land," adding: "We want the good for Egypt. We want justice, equality and piety." "No more peacefulness with the police," the man concluded and then he urged the group to chant "Allahu-Akbar" ("God is the Greatest"). Some online activists hailed the new group urging it to retaliate against security forces; others hoped the group members will be nabbed and tortured by the police. Others, meanwhile, accused the group of being elements of security forces to distort the image of Islamists. "This is the language that the dirty police can understand. No more peacefulness with the police dogs," YouTube user Sayed Ali wrote. "As a former police officer, this is a fabricated show. All those who hold the rifles are well-trained security forces. Rule One in holding arms is: Do not put your forefinger on the trigger. None of all those men puts his finger on the trigger. So, they are either 'police' or 'army' personnel," Twitter user Amr Taha wrote. "I do not know what to say. All that you said is totally correct. But I am still adhering to peacefulness," Twitter user Eslam Ali said. Meanwhile, some experts claimed that the new group is either supported by or affiliates to the Muslim Brotherhood. Political expert Wahid Abdel-Majid said that the emergence of such armed groups is a normal development due to the continued clashes between the Brotherhood group and the Egyptian authorities, as well as the persistence of the group's leaders in derailing any political solutions. He added that the continuation of the situation in such way will lead extremist youths, in light of the physical and moral mobilization, to resort to violence. Islamic thinker Mukhtar Nouh said that the emergence of armed groups comes as a result of the Brotherhood group's failure to mobilize people to join its protests. He added that the video of "Helwan Brigades" aims to intimidate people and force the government to enter into negotiations. For his part, Islamic thinker Najih Ibrahim said that the emergence of "Helwan Brigades" and other armed groups aims to "exhaust the Egyptian state through burning public buses, destroying electricity cables, planting explosive devices at railway stations to intimidate citizens, creating a state of chaos, and so on." He added that those armed youths "live in a state of desperate due to the political, social, and economic tension in the country," noting that those youths "have fed up with peaceful protests, which led them to resort to armed action." Tariq Abul-Saad, an expert in Islamic movements, expected that new armed groups will emerge in the coming period, pointing out that the slogans of the Brotherhood's protests prove that the group adopts the approach of using weapons to reach power. He argued that the Brotherhood group supports such armed movements directly although these movements denied their affiliation to the group.
