The emir of the Salafist group Jaysh al-Umma, or Army of the Islamic Nation, in Gaza, Abu Hafs al-Maqdisi, called for jihad in Egypt to save it from the rule of the so-called “New Pharaoh” — in reference to Egyptian Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Maqdisi said, “We direct our message to our people in Egypt. You have to go out for jihad and lift the injustice and tyranny, and stop the bloodshed by the tyrant Sisi and his supporters. So get out and stay in the fields and public squares until Sisi — along with all his political, religious and military pillars — falls.”

Maqdisi denied any relationship between his Salafist group and the execution of 25 Egyptian soldiers who were shot dead in Sinai, saying, “There is no presence for us on the ground in Egypt or in the Sinai, and there is no coordination between us and the Salafist groups there. But we are joined together by the Islamic doctrine and the feeling of anger as we watch the blood being shed in Egypt, Syria, Chechnya, Morocco, Pakistan and in all the Muslim countries. We are required to take a stance that supports [the people whose] pure blood is being shed day and night to spread apostasy and to eradicate Islam.”

The Salafist leader accused Sisi’s regime of killing the soldiers in Sinai. “The operation happened in a location that was sensitive security-wise and that was not far from the army’s ambush, because they want to cover up the massacre that took place against prisoners [who were being transported] by a prison vehicle one day before the soldiers were killed in order to preoccupy public opinion. Perhaps they were dissident soldiers who refused to continue serving, so they were liquidated.”