Security forces arrested 20 alleged members of the Muslim Brotherhood accused in several violence-related and incitement of violence cases across the country on Monday, the Ministry of Interior announced on its official Facebook page on Tuesday.

In a short statement the Ministry of Interior announced that it arrested on Monday the 20 alleged members of the Muslim Brotherhood in what it called “a preemptive strike” to target the middle generation of leading figures in the Islamist organisation. 

The statement added that the security forces arrested another 13 alleged members in several governorates including Alexandria, Gharbia, Fayoum and Bani-Sweif in the past few days.

The Muslim Brotherhood was designated as a terrorist organisation by the Egyptian government in 2013.

The announcement of the Ministry of Interior comes a day after the assassination of Egypt's top prosecutor Hisham Barakat in a bombing in Cairo.