Egypt's military arrested a senior Jihadist leader Tuesday in the restive Sinai Peninsula, spokesperson Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Ali said Wednesday.
On his Facebook account, Ali said special forces from the Second Field Army had managed to arrest Abdel Rahman (Rahmy) Abu Eita, a senior leader of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdes, an extremist group that has claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt against Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim in September, as well as a later attack on security forces in Rafah last month that killed 11 people.
“Rahmy assaulted the forces chasing him with a grenade he had in his possession. A Motorola walky-talky he had was confiscated,” Ali said.
Ali added that five shanty houses were also set on fire during the Tuesday campaign, as they were suspected of serving as a launching point for terrorist operations. An unlicensed motorbike was also confiscated, he noted.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
