CAIRO 

Egyptian security forces have detained 21 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood in fresh sweeps, bringing the total number of group members detained over the past week to 231, according to the Interior Ministry.

In a Sunday statement, the ministry said that 21 Brotherhood members had been detained – for committing “acts of violence and incitement” – in raids conducted on Saturday.

The latest rash of arrests brings to 231 the total number of Brotherhood members detained over the past week on violence-related charges.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the group from which ousted President Mohamed Morsi hails, was designated a “terrorist organization” by the Egyptian authorities in late 2013.

The Brotherhood, for its part, insists it is committed to purely peaceful activism with a view to reversing what it describes as the "military coup" that unseated Morsi two years ago.

Egypt has been dogged by instability since the military ousted and imprisoned Morsi – the country's first freely elected president and a Brotherhood leader – in mid-2013.

In the more than two years since Morsi's overthrow, the Egyptian authorities have waged a relentless crackdown on political dissent.

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.