Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — Egypt’s military has targeted the Al Qaida leadership in the Sinai Peninsula.

The military has been attacking strongholds of Ansar Beit Maqdis in northeastern Sinai in late February.

The military has designated several of these targets as containing the leadership of the shadowy Al Qaida-aligned militia in Egypt.

“There is evidence that several of the chief terrorists are in this area,” a military source said.

On Feb. 19, the Egyptian Air Force launched air-to-ground missiles against Ansar strongholds south of Sheik Zweid. The sources said the strongholds in the Muqata village were believed to contain at least several Ansar commanders and responsible for insurgency operations throughout Sinai.

The air strikes on Muqata were said to have killed 10 Ansar fighters. The sources said several of the casualties were believed to have been leading insurgency commanders.

“We tracked their movements for a long time, but we are still
investigating,” the source said.

The military has also conducted ground strikes against Ansar and its
militia allies. On Feb. 19, the military was said to have raided two
villages south of Sheik Zweid and six Islamist fighters were killed and
another 10 were injured.

Ansar has been designated the leading insurgency threat to Egypt. The
intelligence community has linked Ansar to the ousted Muslim Brotherhood,
believed to have been cooperating with Al Qaida, particularly its leader,
Ayman Zawahiri.

The sources said Ansar’s main presence was around Sheik Zweid, next to
the Egyptian border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. They said the military
was destroying scores of huts, makeshift buildings and tunnels that linked
the Gaza Strip to Sinai.

  Ansar Beit Maqdis, Egypt strikes strongholds of Al Qaida ‘chief terrorists’ in Sinai, Muslim Brotherhood, Sheik Zweid