Security forces located and killed on Sunday night one of the most "dangerous" members of the militant group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, said the Ministry of Interior. In a statement released on Sunday, the ministry said Homeland Security was able to locate the whereabouts of Faisal Seliman in the Canal governorate of Ismailia. The suspect was killed during his arrest operation, after he allegedly tried to attack security forces with an explosive device. The Ministry of Interior accused in its statement Seliman of being responsible for several attacks on police and army personnel as well as "vital" institutions. During the arrest operation, security institutions allegedly confiscated two grenades, as well as other weapons and explosives. Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, an armed group that has carried out a number of attacks on security outposts, has claimed responsibility for attacks in Giza, Cairo, Ismailia, and Sinai. In September 2013, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim was the target of an assassination attempt that was later claimed by the group. In October, Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis claimed responsibility for an attack on the military intelligence building in Ismailia that injured six, claiming that they carried it out "to cleanse Egypt of crime and military foreign agents". In January, it claimed responsibility for the downing of a military helicopter in Sinai, and in February, for the bombing of a tourist bus that killed four people in the peninsula. The list of attacks attributed to the group has reportedly caused public property damage estimated at EGP 247.5m and private property losses worth around EGP 28m. A factsheet prepared by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs places the death toll for terrorist activities since January 2011 to 23 April at 971, including 477 policemen and 187 army personnel.
