Egyptian security forces detained on Wednesday senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Taha Wahdan, a Brotherhood source has said.

Wahdan, a member of the Guidance Bureau, the Brotherhood's decision-making body, was detained in October City, west of Cairo, the source told Anadolu Agency.

Wahdan's son Ahmed has confirmed his father's detention.

"My father has been detained a while ago," Ahmed said on Facebook, giving no further details.

Wahdan has been absent from the public eye since Egyptian security forces dispersed a major protest camp for supporters of deposed President Mohamed Morsi in in eastern Cairo in mid-2013, killing hundreds of protesters.

Since the first democratically-elected president Mohamed Morsi's ouster, Egyptian authorities have waged a relentless crackdown on political dissent-largely targeting Morsi supporters and his Muslim Brotherhood group-which has seen hundreds killed and thousands detained.

In late 2013, Egyptian authorities branded the Muslim Brotherhood a "terrorist" group.