A video with the logo of the militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis released Saturday appears to illustrate the militant operation that took place in October outside the Military Intelligence building in Ismailia. The 15-minute long clip shows footage from the dispersal of the pro-Mohamed Morsi sit-in at Rabaa Al Adaweya, and a message from the group criticising "Islamist political factions who tried the path of democracy to apply the rule of Islamic jurisprudence". The "military leader" of the operation was shown explaining the steps of the operation, stressing that the group intended minimal "innocent Muslim" causalities. The video also showed a short clip from the confirmation hearing of United States General Martin Dempsey as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in July 2013. General Dempsey was explaining during the hearing the reason why he believed that military aid should continue between the Unites States and the Egyptian Armed Forces. General Dempsey said: "The Egyptian military is a very strong partner of the United States and a key nation of the region. We enjoy preferential passage in the Suez Canal. They are committed to the Camp David accords and the Israeli military considers them a strong partner as well." The video stressed Dempsey's quote that tied the joint interests of the three armed forces, then showed the operation. The release of the video comes in line with the recommendations of current leader of Al-Qaeda Ayman Al-Zawahiri Al-Zawahiri's to jihadists in Egypt, mentioned during an extended April interview with As-Sahab (The Cloud), the group's official media outlet. Al-Zawahiri had given instructions to jihadist groups in Egypt to gain popular support for its missions. In a separate statement, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for the Ismailia bombing in a statement issued two days after it took place. "The explosion [was meant] to cleanse Egypt of crime and military foreign agents," read the statement. The militant group said in its statement the operation had been carried out in response to the Rabaa Al Adaweya sit-in dispersals, and against the "military intelligence [which is] the leader in a war which only benefits enemies of the state, including the Jews and Christians."
