Cairo: An Egyptian Islamist militant group behind some of the deadliest attacks on security forces said it carried out a bombing that killed 11 police in the Sinai Peninsula this week.
Ansar Bait Al Maqdis, an Al Qaida-inspired group based in the Sinai, uploaded video on YouTube late Wednesday purporting to show Tuesday’s ambush, the deadliest attack on the security forces in months.
The footage shows an armoured personnel carrier driving down a road before it is engulfed in a powerful explosion that sends pieces of the vehicle flying into the air.
A militant behind the camera cheers: “God is great. Those are the enemies of God.”
“Praise be to God, an officer and more than 10 conscripts have perished,” says a message, displaying the banner of Ansar Bait Al Maqdis.
The video showed weapons and identification cards it said were retrieved from the destroyed vehicle.
The police and army have launched a massive operation in the Sinai to try to crush the group, killing scores of militants, including several of their leaders.
The jihadists have acknowledged losing of some of their leaders, but have continued to attack both security forces and Bedouin suspected of collaborating with them.
Ansar Bait Al Maqdis has spearheaded attacks that have killed scores of policemen and soldiers since the army overthrew Islamist president Mohammad Mursi last year.
It says it wants to implement Islamic law and that its attacks are to avenge the killing of pro-Mursi protesters by the army and police.
The group has previously posted videos showing other attacks, including a suicide bomber’s attempt to assassinate the interior minister outside his home in the capital in September 2013. The minister, Mohammad Ebrahim, survived.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis is believed to be led by Bedouin militants, and several of its cadres who have been killed or arrested had fought alongside Islamist rebels in Syria.
