Officer accused of collaboration with Ansar Beit al-Maqdes

State Security Prosecution has renewed the detention of officer Sameh al-Azizi on Tuesday, accused of collaborating with Ansar Beit al-Maqdes, a militant organization that has taken responsibility for major terrorist attacks that took place in Egypt throughout the last year, Al-Shorouk reports.

The investigations have revealed that the accused, an officer in the Qalyubiya Security Directorate, had informed Beit al-Maqdes of locations of security checkpoints and timings of shifts in each checkpoint. He also gave the group information on state security officers and their addresses, according to the investigations.

The investigations detail that Azizi met twice with one of the leaders of the group, Mohamed Bekry Haroun, through his brother, then started using insider information to assist the group with intelligence.

The investigations also revealed that the defendant had strong access within the Ministry of Interior as a result of his previous work in the guard of former Ministers of Interior Abdel Halim Moussa and  Hassan al-Alfy.

Azizi is accused of providing information that enabled the group to carry out a bombing on the Qalyubiya Security Directorate on December 24. The attack occurred using cars loaded with explosives, which went off in front of the building, killing 14 and injuring 130.

Ansar Beit al-Maqdes, a Sinai-based terrorist organization has been active in Egypt since the ouster of Morsi in July 2013. It has since taken responsibility for major terrorist attacks, including the bombing of the Cairo Directorate on January 24, 2014, and an attempted assassination of the minister of interior in September 2013.