Daesh-linked group vows to disrupt Egypt elections

By Hussein al-Qabbani

CAIRO

A group linked to the Daesh terrorist organization on Monday threatened to target polling stations during Egyptian presidential polls slated for next month.

The group, Welayet Sinai ("Province of Sinai"), issued the threat in a 23-minute video shared on social-media platforms.

For the last two weeks, the Egyptian army has been conducting wide-ranging operations against what it describes as “terrorist targets” in the Sinai Peninsula.

The Egyptian authorities have yet to officially comment on the video, which has yet to be independently verified.

Egypt’s upcoming poll, slated for March 26-28, will see incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi take on Musa Mustafa Musa, the head of a liberal political party.

Al-Sisi came to power in a 2014 election one year after deposing Mohamed Morsi -- Egypt’s first freely elected leader and a Muslim Brotherhood leader -- in a bloody military coup.