Verdicts against 213 defendants of Ansar Beit El-Maqdis to be stated Sept. 1

CAIRO – 18 August 2019: Verdicts against 213 defendants of Ansar Beit El- Maqdis will be announced on September 1 over accusations of committing 54 terrorist crimes, a Cairo criminal court said on Sunday.

The charges include murdering police officers, soldiers and civilians; an assassination attempt of former Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim; bombing several security facilities; and executing a number of terrorist operations.

The jihadist extremist militant group, Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (Supporters of Jerusalem), emerged from the chaos in Sinai that started with January 2011 uprising. In mid-2013, it initiated attacks on security forces, declaring the Egyptian army and police apostates that can be killed.

The group is believed to have been behind the militant activity in Sinai. The group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) in November 2014, then renamed itself ISIL-Sinai Province.