Security forces on Monday raided an educational centre in Alexandria and arrested 29 people for allegedly planning protests, a security official said.

The official told Aswat Masriya that the group includes six people who allegedly belong to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, a rights group which advocates for academic freedom, said the students were arrested while attending a course at the centre.

The security official, however, said the arrests were made after security forces received information suggesting that Brotherhood members were using the educational centre to hold "organisational meetings" and to "plan protests" at Alexandria University with the purpose of spreading chaos.

The Brotherhood has been considered a terrorist organisation by the Egyptian government since December 2013.

University campuses have witnessed unprecedented violence in the past two academic years, with protests dispersal by security forces sometimes turning deadly.

Egypt's protest law, which has been in effect since November 2013, stipulates that assembly organisers must notify the concerned security authorities with their plans at least three working days in advance.

The law also grants the ministry of interior the right to cancel, move or postpone assemblies.

This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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