Ajnad Misr, which announced its formation in January, said it was behind the April 18 bombing in Cairo that killed one police officer and wounded another.
The group formally announced itself in January saying it would target “criminal elements” in the military-backed government.
It has claimed at least six attacks since then, including explosions outside Cairo University which killed a police brigadier-general and one other person earlier this month.
Ajnad Misr, or the Soldiers of Egypt, is one of a retinue of jihadi terror organizations—some al-Qaeda-affiliated—operating in Egypt, with their focus on the government in Cairo as well as the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel.
Collectively they are threatening to increase attacks ahead of next month’s scheduled presidential election.
First among the groups threatening domestic stability is Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, designated a terror organization by the U.S. State Department on April 9.
In January, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis killed five soldiers in a missile attack on a military helicopter, the department said. It also took responsibility for four other attacks in Cairo that utilized car bombs and hand grenades.
The group has launched rockets at Israel’s southern city of Eilat and attacked Israeli border guards. It has also targeted Egyptian and foreign tourists and Israel, the department said.
The British parliament designated three groups earlier in the month, including Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. The Israel Project’s defense analyst Stéphane Cohen pointed out that this international concern is not only because of the devastating attacks these and other organizations launched but also “they are concerned that these jihadists will come home to bite them. You have many converts joining al-Qaeda in the region. It will be very difficult to profile these people and detect them when they go back as jihadists.”
Despite tensions in the Sinai, with gas pipelines, military personnel and tourists being the main targets, the peace treaty between Jerusalem and Cairo remains intact with strong cooperation between the two militaries and a joint commitment to fighting terror.
[Photo: The Egyptian Liberal / Wiki Commons]