By Hussein Qabani
CAIRO
A militant group active in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula has denied reports that it had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), saying it had nothing to do with a statement to this effect attributed to the group earlier.
"The statement that was attributed to us and circulated by the media... is not ours," Ansar Beit al-Maqdis said on its Twitter account.
It went on to call on the media to "check the accuracy [of its reports] and only take information [about us] from our official sources."
Reports – claiming to cite an Ansar Beit al-Maqdis statement – had said that the group, which has been designated a terrorist organization in Egypt, had declared its allegiance to the ISIL.
In recent months, the ISIL has captured vast swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory.
Especially active in the northeastern Sinai Peninsula, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for numerous high-profile attacks against police and army personnel in recent months.
The group also claimed responsibility for a failed assassination attempt last September on Egyptian Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim.
Egypt has been dogged by turmoil since last year's ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi by the army, which was followed by a harsh crackdown on Morsi's supporters and members of his Muslim Brotherhood group.
Over the last year, the restive Sinai Peninsula in particular has seen a sharp increase in attacks on Egyptian security personnel, the most recent of which left 30 troops dead late last month.
www.aa.com.tr/en
