The Egyptian military claims it killed the top leader of the Islamist terrorist group in the Sinai Peninsula, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (ABM), according to Al-Arabiya News. The leader, Shehata Farhan, was killed during a raid in the town of Rafah, near the Gaza border.
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police over the past year. ABM also have beheaded several people recently. The terrorist organization, based in the Sinai Peninsula, is funded by the Muslim Brotherhood. Its immediate goal is to topple the current Egyptian government. The reason the organization gave for the murders is that those Egyptians were “spies for Israeli intelligence.”
For its part, the Egyptian government claims ABM has ties to ISIS. Last month ISIS urged ABM to continue its attacks on Egyptian security forces and beheadings.
The U.S. government has designated the Egyptian group a terrorist organization, but thus far believes it “generally maintains a local focus.”
In late August, ABM posted a video which showed four bound Egyptians confessing to having provided Israel with information. At the end of the video, all four captives were beheaded by one of the ABM terrorists, while eight others stood in formation.