TEMPO.CO, Washington - The United States has declared the Sinai Peninsula-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis militant group as an international terrorist organization and banned all of its activities and frozen its assets.
The group is accused of an attempted murder of former Egyptian Interior Minister Muhammad Ibrahim, as well as attacking Israeli security forces and tour buses in Egypt.
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis militants committed their first act of terror by bombing gas pipes heading to Israel and Jordan in July 2012. A month later, these militants then launched a rocket from Sinai to residential areas in Eilat, south of Israel.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis also claimed responsibility for assaults on Israel’s border patrol as retaliation for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Several observers believed that Ansar Beit al-Maqdis is related to the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas. The Egyptian government had also declared the Brotherhood as terrorist organization.
BBC | XINHUA | MARIA RITA HASUGIAN