Askar and Azab Network (Ikhwani Entity, Egypt)

• Local Name: N/a
• Transliteration: N/a
• Alternatives: N/a
• Status: 2013 – 2014 (Defeated)
• Conflicts: Ikhwani Islamist Militancy

The Askar and Azab Network [AAN] was a constellation of two Islamist militant cells that was based in the Egyptian city of Mansoura.¹ It was ideologically heterogenous. The cell headed by Khalid Askar was made up of Muslim Brotherhood supporters, while that under the command of Ibrahim Azab had a Salafi background.² Askar and Azab met at the mass sit-in protest at the Raba’a al-Adawiya square in Cairo in July 2013.³ Later that summer, both men and their associates vowed to avenge the deaths of Islamist protesters during the security forces’ clampdown on demonstrations against the removal of Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi. They decided to join forces despite their differences.⁴

Following the crackdown, the associates of the nascent AAN went back to their native Mansoura. Azab and his men had briefly fled to North Sinai before returning home.⁵ The two cells coordinated their activities and began making preparations to strike at security forces.⁶ They acquired weapons and explosives. Some members began surveilling targets, while others made plans to bomb the local police headquarters, attack police vehicles and assassinate officers.⁷ On Feb. 28, 2014, AAN operatives shot and killed a policeman in Mansoura.⁸

The Egyptian authorities immediately began to hunt down the officer’s killers. On Mar. 06, 2014, police raided an apartment in Mansoura and arrested Azab along with six of his associates.⁹ Security forces also seized weapons and explosives. The following day, Askar and several of his companions were apprehended.¹⁰ Within a few days, the authorities had rolled up the AAN and had put nineteen of its operatives behind bars.¹¹ On Mar. 15, police arrested two men who had helped finance the network.¹²

The authorities eventually charged 24 people with membership of the AAN.¹³ They had their case merged with other judicial proceedings against Muslim Brotherhood-linked militants in Mansoura. On Jul. 09, 2015, the ensuing mass trial concluded with Askar, Azab and several of their closest associates receiving the death penalty.¹⁴ These verdicts were cancelled on appeal in April 2017, but later reaffirmed by a court of cassation.¹⁵