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CAIRO, Egypt – Security forces in the Sinai peninsula killed the leader of Egypt’s deadliest militant group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, along with 3 senior members overnight, officials said early Friday, May 23.
Several high-ranking security officials confirmed the death of Shadi el-Menei, considered to be the head of the Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem), an Al-Qaeda inspired militant group that has spearheaded a wave of attacks targeting security forces since the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July.
Such attacks have been carried out in retaliation to a state crackdown on Morsi supporters that has left more than 1,400 killed and at least 15,000 jailed since the Islamist’s overthrow.
Security forces opened fire on the 4 men as they were in a car in central Sinai, the officials said.
The group was about to carry out an attack on a gas pipeline, they added.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has claimed some of the deadliest and high-profile attacks on Egyptian security forces since Morsi’s ouster, including a failed assassination attempt against the interior minister last September.
In April, the US department of State has designated the group as a “foreign terrorist organization”
One of the group’s founders, Tawfiq Mohamed Fareej, was killed in March, when a car accident set off a bomb he was carrying. – Rappler.com
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