Special to WorldTribune.com

CAIRO — The founder of the leading insurgency militia in Egypt has
been killed.

Ansar Beit Maqdis said one of its founders was killed in an explosion in
the Sinai Peninsula on March 11.

Ansar identified the casualty as Tawfiq Mohammed Fareej, who led major operations against the Egyptian Army.

“We mourn the holy warrior who died in an accident when a bomb in a car exploded and he died of his injuries,” Ansar said on March 14.

Islamist sources said Fareej had been preparing a series of attacks in Cairo. They said Fareej, linked to assassination attempts of senior Egyptian officials, was one of the most lethal Al Qaida operatives in Egypt.

Fareej was identified as the planner of a 2011 attack in Israel in which eight people were killed. He was also linked to Ansar’s attempt to bomb the convoy of Egyptian Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim in 2013.

The Egyptian military confirmed the death of Fareej. But Egypt’s
official Al Ahram daily said Fareej was killed in an Egyptian Army operation
in Sinai.

  Ansar Beit Maqdis, Founder of Egyptian insurgency militia killed in Sinai explosion, Mohammed Ibrahim, Tawfiq Mohammed Fareej