Province of Sinai claims responsibility for assassination of high-ranking security official

The Province of Sinai has claimed responsibility for the bombing of a military convoy in Arish in North Sinai, that killed a high-ranking security official and injured three other security personnel on Wednesday.

The funeral of Colonel Yasser al-Hadidy, who was killed in the blast, took place Thursday morning in a mosque in the Interior Ministry in Cairo.

The military convoy was bombed on Wednesday on Assiut street, in Arish, killing Hadidy, injuring one police officer, one conscript and one other security official. According to a statement published by the Interior Ministry on Wednesday all four were part of the North Sinai Security Directorate.

For the past few weeks, the Province of Sinai has focused its operations on targeting Coptic Christians in North Sinai,  killing seven and leading to the displacement of tens of Coptic families.

In late February a group of female teachers traveling from Arish to Rafah reported that two buses were intercepted by members of Province of Sinai, who threatened the teachers with whipping and mutilation with acid if they did not agree to follow an “Islamic dress code” and travel accompanied by a male relative.

The militant group also claimed responsibility for the assassination of military Brigadier General Hesham Shaheen near his home in Arish in November 2016. A few days earlier, the group assassinated Lieutenant Colonel Ramy Hassanein on the road connecting Sheikh Zuwayed, also in North Sinai, to the Gora district, by planting five bombs along the side of the road. Police Lieutenant Khaled Kamal Osman, was shot dead in Arish in September 2015.

The Province of Sinai, formerly known as Ansar Beit al-Maqdes, pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State in November 2014, few months after it was declared a terrorist entity by the authorities. The Sinai-based militant group has claimed responsibility for several attacks on Police and military personnel in Sinai and Cairo since the ouster of former Muslim Brotherhood president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.