GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Egyptian army has said that terrorist elements in Sinai have used heavy weapons belonging to the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.

A military source told a number of Egyptian news websites on Sunday, Sept. 9, that these heavy weapons were seized during the military operations currently targeting criminal groups in Sinai, which had carried out attacks on the army, police and vital installations.

This is the first time that the Egyptian army has directed accusations at a movement associated with Iran and Syria in the Gaza Strip. Previous accusations of involvement in the events in Sinai were made against Salafist-Jihadist groups or Hamas.

The official Facebook page of the military spokesman for the Armed Forces, Col. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, published a photo of the weapons carrying the logo of Al-Quds Brigades. The photo, which was widely circulated in the Egyptian media, carried the following caption: "The combat groups in the Armed Forces and the Central Security Forces, backed by intense aerial cover from military helicopters, continue the implementation of the largest security operation in North Sinai, which aims to target terrorist outposts, capture armed takfiri elements and outlaws, and raid and destroy 118 outposts in which armed terrorist elements are stationed."