Islamic State affiliate in Sinai steps up attacks under new leader

Since the radical Islamic State-affiliate Wilayat Sinai pledged allegiance to the new IS leader Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, it intensified its operations in northern Sinai, where they are confronting local tribes.
Egyptians carry the coffin of a soldier who was killed a day earlier in the restive Sinai Peninsula in an attack claimed by the Islamic State, during a funeral ceremony in the 10th of Ramadan city, north of Cairo, Egypt, July 8, 2017.
Egyptians carry the coffin of a soldier who was killed a day earlier in the restive Sinai Peninsula in an attack claimed by the Islamic State, during a funeral ceremony in the 10th of Ramadan city, north of Cairo, Egypt, July 8, 2017. - Mahmoud Bakkar/AFP via Getty Images
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A correspondent in Egypt

Egypt’s security authorities are closely following up on the situation in the Sinai Peninsula following the appointment of Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurashi as the Islamic State’s (IS) new commander after IS-affiliate Wilayat Sinai pledged allegiance to the new leader. 

On March 17, IS published on its media mouthpiece Amaq photos of Wilayat Sinai militants pledging allegiance to Qurashi.

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