Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Egypt’s leading insurgency movement has claimed then renounced allegiance to Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

On Nov. 4, Ansar Beit Maqdis issued a statement that it would follow ISIL, with a growing presence in Egypt. But hours later another statement denied any Ansar allegiance to ISIL.

“The statement that has been circulated in the media and is sourced to us, regarding the group’s declaration of allegiance to the Caliphate of the Muslims, has nothing to do with us,” the statement, which claimed to come from Ansar, said.

Ansar has been deemed the leading Islamic insurgency group in Egypt. Over the last year, more than 500 people, many of them in the Sinai Peninsula, were killed in attacks claimed by Ansar.

In 2014, Ansar issued several statements of support for ISIL. Islamic sources said ISIL was providing technical support for Ansar operations in Sinai.

“After entrusting God we decided to swear allegiance to the emir of the faithful Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, caliph of the Muslims in Syria and Iraq and in other countries,” the first statement attributed to Ansar said.

The contradictory statements were issued amid an Egyptian crackdown on what officials said comprised a growing presence of ISIL. Nearly 50 people have been arrested and prosecuted on charges of being involved in insurgency strikes attributed to Ansar in 2014.

On Nov. 4, Islamic insurgents fired two mortar shells toward the headquarters of the governor of North Sinai, located in El Arish. There no reports of injuries.

For its part, ISIL has praised Ansar for its campaign in Egypt. An ISIL spokesman, identified as Musab Al Madisi, urged Muslims to fight Christians as well as the Cairo government and security forces.

“It’s imperative to move the battle to central Cairo, occupy the regime there so Sinai becomes a banned area for apostates and a base for supplying the jihad,” Al Maqdisi said in an online statement.

  Ansar flip-flops in one day on its allegiance to ISIL, WorldTribune.com