Ansar Beit al-Maqdes launches PR campaign in Rafah, Sheikh Zuwayed

The Sinai-based militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdes recently set up improvised checkpoints in the North Sinai cities of Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed to distribute flyers explaining the group’s mission to area residents, and to take photographs with them “to publicize people’s happiness with their actions,” the privately owned newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm (AMAY) reported.  

Designated a terrorist organization by Egypt and several other nations in April, Ansar Beit al-Maqdes has claimed several deadly attacks on police and military forces since the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi last year, including the attempted assassination of the interior minister in September 2013 and the bombing of the Cairo Security Directorate in January of this year.

Addressed to “our families and loved ones in Sinai,” the leaflet attempted to “answer questions we see in your eyes about who we are.” The group explained that its members were “Jihadi sons [of Sinai] from Ansar Beit al-Maqdes, men of this country, old and young, your neighbors and relatives who carry the burden of this nation, and wish for its well-being and refuse humiliation and slavery or being ruled according to anything other than God’s Sharia.”

The group had turned to jihad to “give God’s word the upper hand,” the flyer continued, which they believed entailed a state of rule based on Sharia laws and building an Islamic state where virtue is promoted, injustice is erased and  evil is forbidden.

The leaflets attacked “the aggressors among Jews, Christians and their agents in the country,” called for the release of “Muslim prisoners who were taken wrongfully,” and demanded retribution for Muslims killed by security forces.

The group declared it was sure to reach its goals due to its devotion to the Quran and the strength bestowed upon its members by God. They said they would continue their mission until the people lived by “God’s Sharia rules, until we pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque, until all borders are destroyed and the caliphate state is established,” which can only happen if “all our people, young and old, men and children are by our side.”

 “If you’re not on our side, at least don’t side with our enemies. We are walking this path and we will not stop for anyone or anything,” the statement concluded.

On Thursday, Ansar Beit al-Maqdes allegedly released a YouTube video claiming responsibility for a North Sinai bombing that killed 11 policemen and injured four others on Tuesday. Security forces said the attack may have been in retaliation against the killing of group member Abu Shita.

The video showed footage of the explosion as a purported group member screams off-camera, “God is the greatest.” The assailants had allegedly built a road bump that forced the armored vehicle transporting the targeted policemen to slow, giving them time to detonate the explosive devices.

On Thursday, the Armed Forces spokesperson published a number of graphic photos on his Facebook page depicted purported terrorist who were killed during “a number of successful raids on terrorist cells in North Sinai, Ismailia, Sharqiya, Daqahlia, Kafr al-Sheikh and Alexandria.” Activists were outraged by the posts, saying it was unethical to publish photos of severely disfigured bodies.