A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Monday, April 6, 2015

Egypt Says it Killed "Founder" of Ajnad Misr on Same Day Group Claimed Credit for Killing a Policeman

 On Sunday, a bomb on the may 15 Bridge in the Cairo neighborhood of Zamalek, killing a policeman. The jihadist group Ajnad Misr (Soldiers of Egypt) claimed credit. Later the same day, Security forces claimed that they had killed the "founder" of Ajnad Misr, identified as Hanan Muhammad.

Ajnad Misr  has claimed credit for numerous attacks on police and Security Forces in the capital region, mainly in Giza and Cairo Governorates. It's clearly an urban-based movement, unlike Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which operates in Sinai. It claims to target only police and Security Forces and has issued warnings to warn civilians away from targeted areas. It claims to seek retribution for the killings at Raba‘a in 2013 which has led the government to link it with the Muslim Brotherhood, though an Interior ministry official claimed Hanan Muhammad had been a member of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis before he founded Ajnad Misr. See also here.

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