(AFP Photo)
A conscript was injured during an exchange of fire with militants in front of a police station in Sheikh Zuweid, North Sinai, on Monday, according to state-run news agency MENA.
The conscript was transferred to Al-Arish military hospital.
The incident come a day following the fourth anniversary of the 25 January Revolution, which is also Police National Day, with protests flaring up in different governorates across the country.
Three bodies were also found in Al-Arish on Monday, all killed by gunshots, raising the number of dead bodies found in the area over the past two days rise to nine.
A Sheikh Zuweid resident previously told Daily News Egypt that bodies killed by gunshot suggest the militants accused the victims of cooperating with security forces.
The main militant group active in the area, ‘State of Sinai’, formerly known as Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis, claimed Monday the abduction and killing of Ayman Ibrahim Al-Desouky in a new video.
The video featured the police officer while he was being taken from the car as he was yelling “my wife is pregnant” for them to release him. The video included Al-Desouky addressing the interior ministry and calling them “to release all women and girls detained in their prisons or else all police officers will be targeted”. It ended showing live footage of his execution by gunshots.
Al-Desouky was abducted on Sunday 11 January and was found dead two days later. Prosecution ordered a media gag on the case and investigations related to the incident the day after.
Over the past week, ‘State of Sinai’ has been posting a series of propaganda photos featuring militants engaged in training exercises, allegedly somewhere in Sinai.
In all photos the militants wear black balaclavas, except for one, who appears in four different photos with his face in plain view, holding different types of weapons in each shot.
The man has a light complexion, and his long hair and beard are of a reddish shade, suggesting possible foreign origins. He is the only militant to have ever shown his face in ‘State of Sinai’ propaganda materials.
A video was released on 21 January by the group showcasing approximately half a dozen men with headscarves wrapped around their faces, sitting around a fire. Only one of the men speaks, addressing President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and saying that the militants have “stepped” on the “Egyptian army’s dignity” in Sinai. The man also speaks of the Qarm Al-Qawadis attacks on 24 October, which left at least 30 security personnel dead, and calls them only “the beginning”.
The limited state of emergency in parts of North Sinai, including a night-time curfew, was scheduled to end on 25 January. However, the cabinet decided on Sunday to extend it for another three months, until 25 April.
