Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis claims killing of 11 Egyptian security personnel

Ahram Online , Thursday 4 Sep 2014

The militant group claimed responsibility for killing 11 security personnel in an IED explosion last Tuesday in a Youtube video posted Wednesday night

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis
Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis (Photo: Al-Ahram)

In a video posted online on Wednesday, the Sinai-based militant group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for killing 11 security personnel, including a police officer, in an attack in North Sinai the day before.

The video – posted to one of the group's YouTube accounts late Wednesday – shows an armoured vehicle being bombed as a voice in the background cheers and vows for victory.

Tuesday's attack took place in North Sinai's Sheikh Zuwayed after an IED exploded in an armoured vehicle, killing 11. Four other security personnel were also injured in the attack.

On Thursday, Al-Ahram’s daily newspaper reported that four militants and 16 others suspected of involvement in the attack had been killed.

Last week, the same militant group claimed responsibility for the beheading of four Egyptian men residing in North Sinai for allegedly cooperating with Israeli authorities.

Clashes between militants and security forces in Sinai have steadily increased over the years but reached a crisis in August 2012, when 16 Egyptian border guards were killed.

Egypt's army launched a campaign against militants in the peninsula after the attack.

Attacks on security forces across the country soared last summer after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for previous attacks in Cairo and Sinai, including an attempt to assassinate the interior minister and the bombings of security directorates in Cairo and Mansoura.
 

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