"State of Sinai" claimed the killing of two people, including conscript Ahmed Fathy Aboul Fotouh and another individual, in footage that was releasedFriday via their official Twitter account. Aboul Fotouh belonged to Battilion 37 in the area of Sheikh Zuweid in North Sinai and was allegedly captured on 2 April. The video showed the killing of the conscript with gunshots and the decapitation of the second victim. The same day the conscript was allegedly taken hostage, the radical militant group launched a series of attacks targeting seven checkpoints along the Al-Arish-Rafah international road. They claimed in a statement to have killed "tens" with the seizing of military vehicles and weapons. However, the armed forces released a statement announcing the number of deaths on their side to be 16 in the retaliatory operations. The armed forces' statement highlighted the killing of at least 35 "terrorists". On 8 April the group further claimed a bomb explosion that targeted a security vehicle in the Masaeed area in Al-Arish. The attack left police officers Mohamed Abdelazim and Moemen Abdelmagid dead and injured three others, according to an Interior Ministry statement. State of Sinai, however, declared that the attack was launched as "a quick response" to "the indiscriminate shelling of Muslims" by the armed forces. The group has repeatedly blamed the killing of civilians on armed forces operations; however, the armed forces denied on several occasions the killing of civilians. The military spokesman released a statement Thursday announcing the death of 29 militants in North Sinai during operations between 5-8 April.
