Prosecutors said that the 13 men had planted bombs in sanitation and electricity facilities as well as on beaches and ordered that they be detained for 15 days.

The security sources said the men formed a 13-member cell that included an employee at the Suez Canal Authority. Around 18,000 ships pass through the canal annually, which amounts to 10% of global maritime trade.

A project to build a new 72 km waterway, which will enable two-way traffic and double the current daily ship capacity, began last August.

The Suez Canal represents a vital source of income earning Egypt around $5 billion per year. The government has yet hardened its position vis-à-vis the Muslim Brotherhood, a movement he considers “terrorist” since the attack last week that killed the Attorney General of Egypt.

This came during in a phone call on Althawra (the Revolution) satellite TV channel by way of a comment on rumors about the Muslim Brotherhood possibly disbanding itself and suspending its activities in Egypt.

The government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has cracked down on the Muslim Brotherhood, a group supportive of ex- President Mohammad Morsi since Morsi was ousted from power in 2013.

The crackdown, which has largely targeted Morsi’s supporters and members of his Muslim Brotherhood group, has seen hundreds killed and tens of thousands thrown behind bars.

The Brotherhood says it is committed to peaceful activism although Egypt’s authorities do not now distinguish between it and terror groups such as Islamic State.

Egypt arrested 13 Muslim Brotherhood members Monday, suspected of installing explosives around the Suez Canal to disrupt shipping. The official stated that Mahmoud Ezzat “is probably still controlling the attacks from another location and giving orders to the medium leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt”.

Among the dead was a prominent lawyer for the Brotherhood and a ex- lawmaker.