Egypt Says Armed Group Leader Killed in Sinai
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Shadi al-Menei, the head of the Egyptian armed group Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, has been killed along with other members overnight, Egyptian security sources said.
The sources said Menei was killed on Thursday while walking in Maghara in Sinai Peninsula, Reuters reported.
He was the head of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, or Champions of Jerusalem, which has been behind several recent attacks on Egyptian security forces.
A statement, posted on the army spokesman's official Facebook page, said the army executed an operation that resulted in the killing of six extremely dangerous criminal elements on Thursday.
It did not name Menei and it was not clear if the statement referred to the same incident.
Several high-ranking security officials confirmed Menei's death, but it was not possible to obtain confirmation from independent sources.
In a separate incident, one security officer was shot dead by unknown attackers at a checkpoint in the north Sinai town of Rafah, near the border with Israel, the state news agency MENA reported early on Friday.
Fighters in Sinai increased their attacks against army and police forces last year after the army removed President Mohamed Mursi in July. The army then launched a major operation to combat fighters in the peninsula.
