A leading member of a Sinai-based Islamist militant group was killed on Monday by security forces.

Spokesman for the Egyptian Armed Forces Ahmed Ali announced on his official Facebook page that the Takfiri leader Ibrahim Abou Eita -- known as Abu Suhaib of the Islamist group Ansar Beit Al-Makqdis -- was killed in an exchange of gunfire with security forces as he was riding his motorcycle.

The statement added that another man with Suhaib, Hamdan Salem, had been arrested and will be interrogated.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, an Islamic militant group, has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks targeting security personnel, most notably the death of high-ranking police officer Mohamed Mabrouk, who was shot dead on 17 November outside of his home.

Mabrouk had been involved with drafting charges against ousted president Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. He was in charge of the Brotherhood's file at the Interior Ministry's National Security Agency.

The same group also claimed responsibility for September's failed assassination attempt on Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim in Cairo .

Other claims include an October attack on security headquarters in south Sinai which left two dead and 48 injured, along with over a dozen others from the last two years on a gas pipeline linking Egypt, Israel and Jordan.

Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, already suffering from a security vacuum since the 2011 revolution which toppled Hosni Mubarak, has witnessed a sharp spike in militant attacks after Islamist president Morsi was ousted by the military in July.

Security forces have responded with a crackdown on militants in the restive peninsula, killing hundreds.



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