Egyptian forces kill top jihadist in Sinai

Egyptian soldiers killed Friday a top member of the jihadist group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis who was involved in deadly attack on security forces in the Sinai Peninsula, the army said.

Shahtah Farhan al-Maatqa was killed in a raid in the town of Rafah on the border with the Gaza Strip, the army spokesman said in a statement online.

He was “a key leader of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis… and had been involved in attacks that targeted the armed forces and the police” in the Sinai Peninsula, the statement said.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) says it supports the Islamic State (IS) group, which has seized swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria, but has not pledged formal allegiance to it.

It is Egypt’s deadliest militant group.

Earlier this week, the group released a video showing the execution of four men, including three being beheaded, accused of spying for the army and for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.

A similar video of beheadings was released by the group on August 28, showing the decapitation of four men also accused of being “Israeli informants.”

Last month, the army announced the death of another leader of the jihadist group, who was then identified as an explosives expert who was attempting with three others to plant a roadside bomb.

The Sinai Peninsula, which also borders Israel, has seen fighting between militants and security forces after the army ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last year.

Militants have killed scores of security personnel in retaliation for a brutal government crackdown on Morsi supporters since his ouster.

Egyptian authorities have launched a sweeping crackdown on his supporters which has left at least 1,400 people dead and more than 15,000 jailed.