Islamic State (IS)-affiliated militant group Sinai Province declared in a statement its responsibility for killing an army brigadier general and a conscript through an improvised explosive device (IED) on Monday morning in central Sinai.
The IED targeted the brigadier general and conscript’s armoured car in central Sinai in the early hours of Monday morning, state media reported.
“Following accurate monitoring and pursuit, soldiers of the caliphate succeeded in planting an IED against the four-wheel drive vehicle of apostate Brigadier General Ahmed Kamal Mahmoud who is member of the apostate Egyptian army. The explosion El-Monbatah village resulted in killing him along with other soldiers and officers. The soldiers should know that we are watching them,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, several social media users affiliated with Sinai Province alleged that the killed brigadier general was the military ruler of central Sinai. Despite the lack of accurate information regarding the position of the victim, several local media reports claimed that he had been the military ruler of central Sinai.
The army denied the circulating news reports and social media allegations, stating that the victim was a colonel, an official from the army media office told Daily News Egypt on condition of anonymity on Tuesday.
“The victims of the explosion were Colonel Ahmed Kamal Mahmoud, 49, authorised to combat terrorism in Sinai, and conscript Kirollos Wahib Famy, 21,” he added, in refutation to the Sinai Province statement.
Three other conscripts were wounded in the same explosion with shrapnel and taken to the Suez Military Hospital.
This event comes just after the Armed Forces claimed to have successfully thwarted an attempted ambush on a checkpoint Sunday in Sheikh Zuweid, killing 14 militants and apprehending 12.
