Anonymous militants killed a 55 year-old civilian, Saleh Hamed, inside the North Sinai city of Al-Arish on Saturday evening as he attempted to stop the kidnapping of his son, who was taken by the militants following the shooting, state-run newspaper Akhbar Al-Youm reported. The anonymous militants, who are believed to be from the Islamic State (IS) affiliated group "Sinai Province," opened fire on him and left him dead, a North Sinai based journalist told Daily News Egypt Sunday on condition of anonymity. The 23 year-old son, Hamed Saleh Hamed, a resident of Al-Arish, was kidnapped from his residence inside the central suburb known as "Al-Saha Al-Shabia," the North Sinai journalist added. According to Akhbar Al-Youm, the kidnapping operation was executed in front of pedestrians, and the son was taken to an unknown place. Meanwhile, the killed father has been transferred to the nearest hospital. Residents of North Sinai's cities of Al-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid, and Rafah are regularly being subjected to numerous kidnappings and killings carried out by the militants affiliated to the "Sinai Province" group. Several residents have been affected by this, as they were suspected to be army and security operators. Since 2013, state security forces, represented by both the army and the police, have been engaged in violent clashes with "Sinai Province," previously known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis. In 2014, the group declared its affiliation to IS and has launched deadly attacks on army and police checkpoints. Over the course of the last two years, the Egyptian armed forces launched counterattacks against militant stationing points across the Sinai Peninsula where the group is based, particularly in the cities of Sheikh Zuweid, Rafah, and Al-Arish.
