Unidentified assailants gunned down two North Sinai tribal leaders in two separate incidents in the border city of Rafah on Monday.
Sheteiwi Abu Maraheel, brother of former Member of Parliament Salem Abu Maraheel, was shot in his farm while Hassaan Al-Baiera was killed in his home, reported state-run Al-Ahram. Both belong to the Sawarka tribe, one of the largest Bedouin tribes in Sinai.
The killed tribal leaders are believed to have been targeted for cooperating with security forces in the Sinai Peninsula, reported AP.
Egypt has been adopting the rhetoric of waging a “war on terrorism” since the military-backed ouster of former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last July. Morsi’s ouster was closely followed by a militant insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula targeting security officials. Such attacks have prompted a heavy military presence within the peninsula.
Last week, mortar strikes on a residential area and military camp in North Sinai’s Al-Arish city claimed the lives of seven civilians and one soldier and injured 28.
