In a video released to jihadist forums yesterday, the al Nusra Battalion, a unit within the al Furqan Brigades, claimed responsibility for a number of recent shooting attacks in Egypt. The video is the first in a series titled “Support for the Weak,” according to a summary by the SITE Intelligence Group.
The group said its attacks targeted “apostates” and “criminals.” In the first attack shown, a man, described as an “apostate,” is gunned down at point blank range in broad daylight. Another featured attack is the drive-by killing of Colonel Mohammed al Komi along the Cairo-Ismailia desert road on Aug. 14.
The video of the shooting attacks comes just two days after Ansar Jerusalem (Ansar Bayt al Maqdis), a Sinai-based jihadist group, released video of some of its recent attacks against Egyptian security personnel in the Sinai. And today, unidentified gunmen killed five policemen in the Sinai, Ma’an News Agency reported.
The video from the al Furqan Brigades’ al Nusra Battalion is not the first attack claimed by the jihadist group. In early September, the al Furqan Brigades posted video of its members firing RPGs at a vessel traveling through the Suez Canal. In addition to the video, the group released an online statement, which stated that “the road for Allah’s word to be supreme is the ammunition box and not the ballot box.”
And on July 29, the al Furqan Brigades released a statement claiming responsibility for an RPG attack on a ship traveling through the Suez Canal. Video from the purported attack in July was uploaded to YouTube on Aug. 4.
Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here.
