New Egyptian jihadi group forms, claims attacks

Ajnad Misr, Egypt’s soldiers in Arabic, says it will fight ‘regime’s criminal organs’ after claiming bombings outside Cairo

By AP 1 February 2014, 10:48 am

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Egyptian police officers and firefighters gather at the Egyptian police headquarters after a blast in downtown Cairo on Friday, January 24, 2014. (photo credit: AP/Khalil Hamra)

CAIRO — A new Egyptian militant jihadi group has issued its first statement, claiming responsibility for planting explosives and attacking security men and police stations.

In a statement posted on a militant website late Friday, Ajnad Misr, or Egypt’s Soldiers, said it will fight the “regime’s criminal organs,” which it said were being used to humiliate the people and prevent them from performing religious duties.

It said it planted and detonated two explosive devices on a main highway on Cairo’s outskirts Friday. Interior Ministry spokesman Hani Abdel-Latif said it hit a vehicle carrying riot police and wounding an officer.

Earlier this week, militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis confirmed that Ajnad Misr was responsible for the Jan. 24 bomb attack that targeted Cairo’s Talbiya police station, which police said caused no casualties.