An Islamist militant group said on Saturday four of its members were killed in an Israeli drone strike in Egypt's North Sinai region, according to reuters. "Our heroes became martyrs during their jihadi duties against the Jews in a rocket attack on occupied lands," the Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group said on a jihadist website. Egyptian security sources said earlier that four Islamist militants were killed by a missile strike on Friday as they prepared to launch rockets at Israel. It was not clear how the militant group determined that its members were the target of an Israeli drone strike. Five security sources told Reuters the attack was carried out by Israel. But the Egyptian armed forces officially denied that was the case and an Israeli army spokeswoman in Jerusalem declined to comment on the incident. The two countries have cooperated in tackling the threat from Islamist militants in Sinai in the past and neither seemed interested in creating a fuss over this case. Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis criticised the Egyptian military for what it called its repeated cooperation with Israel. The Egyptian military said two explosions took place at a site 3 km (2 miles) west of the border and south of the city of Rafah on Friday afternoon.
