A terrorist group operating in the Sinai Peninsula has formally pledged loyalty to ISIS.
The Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis swore allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) according to an audio clip posted on its Twitter account.
The 9-minute, 26-second clip was posted early Tuesday morning last week on an account that calls itself the “official mouthpiece” of the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group.
A week ago, the group had denied a statement reported by the Reuters news agency pledging loyalty to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, chief of the ISIS terrorist group. The statement was released in the name of the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the news agency reported.
There appears to be some internal conflict taking place within the Sinai-based terrorist organization, which has been linked in the past with Al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda, for its part, has distanced itself from ISIS, charging the group with being “too brutal” in its methods although willing to maintain loose ties in the goals of the two organizations.
Egypt has increased the number of military forces in the Sinai Peninsula in an effort to root out the terrorist groups building bases in the region; Israel has reluctantly agreed to the move in agreement with Cairo’s goals.