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.
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.
Wilayat Sinai was previously known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, before pledging allegiance to IS in November 2014, when the organization was led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi at the time.
On March 11, Reuters revealed that the new IS leader is the brother of Baghdadi, who was killed in a US raid in northern Syria in 2019.
