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Islamic State calls for more attacks on Egyptian security forces Egyptian officials, including the foreign minister, have acknowledged coordination between Sinai militants and Islamic State but say the latter do not have a presence in the country
Islamic State (IS) called on insurgents in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula on Monday to press ahead with attacks against Egyptian security forces and to continue beheadings, an appeal likely to deepen concerns over ties between the militant groups. Egyptian officials, including the foreign minister, have acknowledged coordination between the two groups but have said there are no IS fighters in the country. The statement comes less than 24 hours after an IED exploded in central Cairo killing two policemen. IS controls swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria where it has proclaimed a caliphate. Egypt has been facing an Islamist insurgency for the past few years with Jihadists attacking and killing hundreds of security personnel in the past year alone. "Rig the roads with explosives for them. Attack their bases. Raid their homes. Cut off their heads. Do not let them feel secure," IS spokesman Abu Muhammad Al-Adnani said in a statement released online. He praised Egyptian militants for carrying out "blessed operations against the guards of the Jews, the soldiers of Sisi, the new Pharaoh of Egypt." President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has recently vowed to support the international fight against the IS in other parts of the Middle East. A militant from the Sinai-based Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis, which has claimed responsibilty for killing hundreds of Egyptian security forces over the last year, has told Reuters IS has provided instructions on how to operate more effectively. Meanwhile, the military has been staging attacks on militant jihadists, saying it has killed and arrested hundreds. Speculation has been rife on the appearance of IS cells in Sinai. General Mohamed Rashad, a former deputy director of the General Intelligence Services, previously told Ahram Online that Sinai was a worrying terror hotbed and “a major tributary for the export of extremism." Egyptian intelligence authorities say they continue to gather information in order to conduct military operations against militant hideouts and hotbeds in the area. Ths story has been edited by Ahram Online http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/111364.aspx
