IS Fighters in Sanai

Egypt catches Islamic State infiltrating Sinai  Worries it could be next on jihadist group's hit list by Aaron Klein

TEL AVIV – Egypt in recent weeks arrested dozens of foreign jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula, stoking fears Islamic State militants are seeking to open a new front in the land of Moses, an Egyptian security official told WND.

The official said the Egyptian military brass were alarmed by the number of foreign jihadists who had infiltrated the Sinai, with those jihadists arrested in recent raids originating from such countries as Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond.

The first raids took place earlier this month. More were reported arrested in Egyptian military raids of the Sinai last Wednesday and Thursday.

A statement from the Egyptian military spokesperson’s office reported 297 were arrested during last week’s raids, including illegal immigrants, criminal and terrorist suspects and one jihadist described by the military as “extremely dangerous.” That terrorist was named as Tawfik Awad Soliman from the State of Sinai terror group.

The State of Sinai was formerly known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, an al-Qaida inspired group that changed its name earlier this year when it pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and announced its intention to expand Islamic State-governed Sharia law to the Sinai.

Two more State of Sinai militants were reportedly killed on Friday in the Gesr Al-Seweis area of East Cairo, according to an Egyptian Ministry of Interior statement.

This past February, WND first reported that thousands of foreign jihadists were attempting to infiltrate Egypt, stoking fears of a coming destabilization campaign akin to the insurgency in Syria, according to informed Middle Eastern security officials.

The officials warned at the time of a troubling development taking place among the al-Qaida-linked organizations already inside Egypt. They said there is information the militant groups are forming a de facto chain of command, with alarming coordination between the various jihadist factions embedded around the country.

The terrorist infrastructure is being set up beyond the Islamist stronghold of the Sinai Peninsula. The officials said al-Qaida-linked groups in Egypt have been forming divisions replete with leadership and assignments to specific territories, including in the Sinai, Suez regions, outside Cairo and along the Delta. Some Internet al-Qaida forums have even been discussing the possibility of declaring the Sinai an official Islamic emirate.

Source:http://www.wnd.com/2014/12/egypt-catches-islamic-state-infiltrating-sinai/