CAIRO
The Ansar Beit al-Maqdis militant group has claimed responsibility for an attack that claimed the lives of over 21 Egyptian border guards on Saturday near the border with Libya.
“By God’s grace, we were able to storm a checkpoint of Egyptian border guards in al-Farafra, which has been a stronghold for the troops that used to kill and torture our brother fighters,” a Twitter account claiming to be representing the group wrote late Monday.
According to the account, the attack was conducted on two phases.
“The first group blew up the checkpoint with rocket-propelled grenades and detonated the camp’s arms cache,” it said.
“The second group stormed the camp with automatic rifles and Kalashnikovs, eliminating the whole unit,” it added.
The group called on Egyptians to withdraw their sons from the army and police, threatening further attacks on security sites nationwide.
Especially active in Egypt's northeastern Sinai Peninsula, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for numerous high-profile attacks against police and army personnel in recent months, including the killing of six army conscripts in northern Cairo in March.
The group has also claimed a failed assassination attempt last September against Egyptian Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim.
Egypt has been in turmoil since last July's ouster of elected president Mohamed Morsi by the army and the ensuing crackdown on the latter's supporters.
The Sinai Peninsula, in particular, has seen a sharp increase in attacks on security forces.
The Egyptian army is already engaged in a wide-ranging military operation in Sinai, launched last September with the stated aim of flushing out militant groups.
Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the former army chief who was declared the winner of a May presidential poll, led the army on July 3 of last year to forcibly remove Islamist Morsi from office.
In April, an Egyptian court issued a ruling obliging the Egyptian government to designate the Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis as a terrorist organization.
By Sahar Hassanein
www.aa.com.tr/en
