Ansar Beit al-Maqdis
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Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (ABM; ar, أَنْصَارُ بَيْتِ الْمَقْدِس, Anṣār Bayt al-Maqdis, lit= Supporters of the Holy House), or Ansar Al-Quds (), was a
jihadist Jihadism is a neologism which is used in reference to "militant Islamic movements that are perceived as existentially threatening to the West" and "rooted in political Islam."Compare: Appearing earlier in the Pakistani and Indian media, Wes ...
,
extremist Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied share ...
militant group based in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. Ansar Bait al-Maqdis was linked to al-Qaeda from 2011 to 2014. It operated in the
Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...
, focused its efforts on Egypt and the gas pipeline to
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, with a handful attacks directed at Israel. In mid-2013, it began a campaign of attacks on Egyptian security forces, and in November 2014 the group pledged allegiance to the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
(ISIL). Most of the group became a branch of ISIL, renaming itself ISIL-Sinai Province.


Overview

ABM emerged from a number of indigenous
Salafi jihadist Salafi jihadism or jihadist-Salafism is a transnational, hybrid religious-political ideology based on the Sunni sect of Islamism, seeking to establish a global caliphate, characterized by the advocacy for "physical" (military) jihadist and Sa ...
groups in the
Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is ...
. Some of these groups had ties to Salafi jihadis in Gaza or leaders that had previously fought abroad, including with al-Qaeda. ABM rose from the chaos in Sinai that began with the uprising in January 2011. Its operations increased in the wake of the 2013 Egyptian ''coup d'état'', shifting its main target from Israel to Egyptian security forces, declaring the Egyptian army and police
apostates Apostasy (; grc-gre, ἀποστασία , 'a defection or revolt') is the formal disaffiliation from, abandonment of, or renunciation of a religion by a person. It can also be defined within the broader context of embracing an opinion that ...
that can be killed. ABM was believed to have been the main group behind militant activity in the Sinai. From September 2013 to late January 2014, ABM claimed responsibility for a rapid succession of mass scale attacks throughout Egypt, including the attempted assassination of the Egyptian interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim. ABM recruited
Bedouins The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and Ar ...
as well as other Egyptians and people of other nationalities. Ten leaders from the group were reported to have escaped from the Sinai to Gaza and Marsa Matrouh in late 2013. During 2014, ABM sent emissaries to ISIL in Syria to seek financial support, weapons and tactical advice. On 10 November 2014, many members of ABM took an oath of allegiance to
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ( ar, أبو بكر البغدادي, ʾAbū Bakr al-Baḡdādī; born Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali Muhammad al-Badri al-Samarrai ( ar, إبراهيم عواد إبراهيم علي محمد البدري السامرائي, ʾIb ...
, the leader of ISIL. Following this pledge, ISIL supporters within ABM formed an official branch of ISIL in the region, known as Wilayat Sinai, the Sinai Province of the Islamic State (or ISIL-SP).


Designation as a terrorist organization

ABM or ISIL-SP was designated a
terrorist organization A number of national governments and two international organizations have created lists of organizations that they designate as terrorist. The following list of designated terrorist groups lists groups designated as terrorist by current and fo ...
by Egypt, the UAE, the United Kingdom, and the United States.


Attacks

Attacks claimed by or attributed to ABM include: * bombing of the gas pipelines Egypt to
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
multiple times. *
September 2012 southern Israel cross-border attack September 2012 southern Israel cross-border attack refers to an incident on 21 September 2012, when three Egyptian militants, wearing civilian clothes and armed with explosive belts, AK-47 rifles and RPG launchers, approached the Egypt-Israel bo ...
. * September 2013 assassination attempt on the minister of interior
Mohamed Ibrahim Moustafa Mohamed Ibrahim Moustafa, often referred to simply as Mohamed Ibrahim ( ar, محمد إبراهيم مصطفى; born 10 April 1953) was the Minister of Interior of Egypt, from January 2013 until March 2015. Career Ibrahim has worked for the Int ...
. * October 2013 attack on a military intelligence building in
Ismailia Ismailia ( ar, الإسماعيلية ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city has a population of 1,406,699 (or approximately 750,000, includi ...
. * November 2013, assassination of Mohamed Mabrouk, a security officer involved in the trial against
Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Nasr City Nasr City ( ar, مدينة نصر  ) is a district of Cairo, Egypt. It is located to the east of the Cairo Governorate and consists mostly of condominia. It was established in the 1960s as an extension to neighboring settlement of Heliop ...
. * 24 December 2013 bombing of a police compound in
Mansoura Mansoura (' , rural: ) is a city in Egypt, with a population of 960,423. It is the capital of the Dakahlia Governorate. Etymology ''Mansoura'' in Arabic means "victorious". The city is named after the El Mansoura Battle against Louis IX of Fr ...
, killing at least 16 people, including 14 police officers. * 31 January 2014, a rocket was launched from the Sinai Peninsula aimed at Eilat, Israel. The
Iron Dome Iron Dome ( he, כִּפַּת בַּרְזֶל, Kippat Barzel) is a mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short- ...
system intercepted the rocket. * 20 January 2014 attack in Eilat. No damage or injuries were reported. * 23 January 2014 attack on a police checkpoint in Beni Suef that killed 5 people. * January 2014 Cairo bombings that took place in late January 2014, though it later indicated that the Soldiers of Egypt group was behind one of the bombings. * 25 January 2014 shooting down of a military helicopter in the Sinai. * 28 January 2014 assassination of Mohamed Al-Saied (who was a member of Egypt's Interior Ministry). * 31 January 2014 attempted attack on Eilat. The rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome system. * 16 February
2014 Taba bus bombing The 2014 Taba bus bombing was a terrorist attack on a tourist coach in Taba, Egypt on 16 February 2014. The bus had been parked, waiting to cross into Israel at the Taba Border Crossing, when a lone suicide bomber entered the open bus and deto ...
that killed four people, including three Korean tourists and an Egyptian bus driver. The group warned all tourists to leave Egypt before 20 February 2014. * 2 May 2014 attacks that killed 3 people in the Sinai. * on 19 July 2014 Ansar Bait al-Maqdis ambushed Egyptian army soldiers, this event is knows as the 2014 Farafra ambush * on 28 August 2014 ABM released a video showing the beheading of 4 Egyptians accused of being Mossad spies and providing Israel with intelligence. * late September 2014 killing of 6 security personnel. *On 8 October 2014, a faction of ABM in the Gaza Strip, calling itself the ''Islamic State of Gaza'', launched a bomb attack on the French Cultural Center in the city of Gaza, only to issue a statement several hours later denying any responsibility for the attack. *ABM released a graphic propaganda video claiming responsibility for the 24 October 2014 Sinai attacks that killed 28 soldiers northwest of the town of Arish. The group is also responsible for a drive-by shooting several hours later at a checkpoint in Arish that killed three soldiers. After November 2014, attacks by the group were claimed as those of ISIL-SP.


See also

*
Sinai insurgency The Sinai insurgency is an ongoing insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, that was commenced by Islamist militants against Egyptian security forces, which have also included attacks on civilians. The insurgency began during the Egyptian ...
* Timeline of the Sinai insurgency


References

Global Terrorism Database: List over Ansar Bait al-Maqdis attacks: http://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?page=1&casualties_type=&casualties_max=&perpetrator=40074&count=100&charttype=line&chart=overtime&expanded=no&ob=GTDID&od=asc#results-table {{Militant Islamism in the Middle East 2010s in Egypt 2011 establishments in Egypt 2014 disestablishments in Egypt Groups affiliated with al-Qaeda Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in Egypt Jihadist groups in Egypt Organisations of the Egyptian Crisis (2011–2014) Organizations disestablished in 2014 Organizations designated as terrorist by Egypt Organizations designated as terrorist by the United Arab Emirates Organisations designated as terrorist by the United Kingdom Organizations designated as terrorist by the United States Organizations based in Africa designated as terrorist Organizations based in Asia designated as terrorist Organizations established in 2011 Sinai Peninsula