TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Militants kill pro-army Sinai tribal leader outside Cairo
In this March 23, 2014, file photo, members of the Egyptian security forces demonstrate their formation skills during a ceremony in Cairo, Egypt
Change Size
In this March 23, 2014, file photo, members of the Egyptian security forces demonstrate their formation skills during a ceremony in Cairo, Egypt. (AP/Mohammed Abu Zaid) (AP/Mohammed Abu Zaid)
I
span class="inline inline-center">In this March 23, 2014, file photo, members of the Egyptian security forces demonstrate their formation skills during a ceremony in Cairo, Egypt. (AP/Mohammed Abu Zaid)
A pro-army tribal leader that fled the restive northern Sinai for his safety has been killed in front of his home outside of Cairo, the latest sign that the peninsula's Islamic insurgency has spread its reach to Egypt's mainland, Egyptian security and tribal officials said Friday.
The shooting took place late Wednesday in the quiet city of Obour, northeast of Cairo, the officials said. Khaled el-Maniee of the Sawarqa tribe, among the biggest in Sinai, was wanted dead by militants for giving the military information and vocal support, they added.
Egypt's Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility for the assassination, according to a statement circulated on Twitter by IS sympathizers.
El-Maniee's father and two brothers were also killed by militants following the 2011 fall of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, which intensified the Sinai attacks. The 2013 military overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi and the security crackdown on Islamic groups further exacerbated matters in Sinai.
All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to brief reporters or fear reprisals. (k)
