Egypt’s most active terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the killing of five security officers on Friday in attacks that coincided with protests called for by the government’s Islamist opposition.
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, now the Emirate of Sinai, said in a twitter message it was behind the killing of two army officers in Qalyubiya and three others in separate attacks in Cairo. “We promise our people in Egypt more operations,” read the message, which said the attacks were a contribution to “the Muslim Youth Uprising,” the slogan given to the protests by the Islamist opposition.
The group, branded a terrorist entity by Egypt and the United States, had claimed responsibility for a series of bloody attacks in Sinai and other governorates against security forces since the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsy.
It changed its name to the “Emirate of Sinai” in response to a call by Abu Bakr al-Baghdady, commander of the Islamic State to which Ansar paid allegiance.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
