Two leaders of Sinai Islamist group killed

Two senior members of the Ansar Bait al-Maqdis Islamist group were killed in an operation south of Sheikh Zuweid town in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Al Arabiya News Channel’s correspondent reported on Friday.

Many of Ansar Bait al-Maqdis members have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group.

Sources told the Egyptian state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) that a leading Ansar Bait al-Maqdis figure Kamal Allam was killed on Thursday.

Allam was among the 70 militants killed in Sinai by Egyptian security forces over the past 48 hours, following a deadly attack by Ansar Bait Al-Maqdis on Sheikh Zuweid, MENA reported.

Security sources told MENA that 35 militants were killed Wednesday night while another 35 militants were killed on Thursday. Many were killed while trying to escape Egyptian Air Force strikes, the sources added.

Others were also killed by landmines they had previously planted along highways targeting Egyptian security forces, the sources explained.

The operation comes after battles between Egyptian armed forces and the Islamist militants on Wednesday in Sheikh Zuweid.