The military announced that a leader of Sinai-based militant group Ansar Beit al Maqdis, was killed on Monday and another accompanying individual was arrested in the North Sinai city of Sheikh Zuweid. The military claimed that the leader, Ibrahim Mohammed Hamdan Abu Freij, also known as Abu Soheib, was "one of the most dangerous jihadists in North Sinai". In a statement, the military alleged: "The arrested individual, Mossad Hamdan Salem, was accompanying Abu Soheib on a motorcycle and was firing a machine gun at members of the second field army." In second statement, the military claimed that Salem was arrested as part of another group of 22 individuals arrested in Arish and Rafah upon suspicion of belonging to the militant group. Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has been claiming responsibility for a number of attacks on military and police units. The group had claimed to be responsible for the assassination attempt on Minister of the Interior Mohamed Ibrahim on 5 September. On 2 December a video, which is said to belong to Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, was released showing footage of the deadly car bomb explosion that targeted a military bus in North Sinai on 20 November, killing 11 and injuring 37. They have also claimed responsibility for an attack on the military intelligence building in Ismailia that injured six before claiming responsibility for an explosion at an empty government building in El-Tor, North Sinai. Their methods usually include releasing statements threatening security forces which are followed by videos of them carrying out the attacks.
