Cairo, April 6 (IANS): A senior leader of Egypt's Ajnad Misr terrorist group was killed on Sunday by security forces in Giza governorate, Egypt's interior ministry said.

Hammam Attiya, founder of the outlawed group, was shot dead during fire exchanges with security forces at an apartment in Al-Ahram district in Giza, Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying.

The security forces were trying to arrest Attiya after spotting his location but he started shooting at them, the statement said, adding that a machinegun, a pistol and 22 bombs were found at the apartment.

The militant leader used the apartment as a hideout and an operation cell.

The Egyptian police claim that Attiya was responsible for 26 attacks that left a number of Egyptian army and police personnel dead across the country.

Attiya was a member of the Al Qaeda-inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM) group, but he quit the organisation in 2013 and founded Ajnad Misr.

Ajnad Misr, soldiers of Egypt in Arabic, is an Islamist militant group which claims that its attacks are only against the Egyptian army and police.

The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters in May 2014 declared the group a terrorist organisation. The group is also designated a terrorist organisation by the US.