Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis was listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the Department of State Wednesday.
The group became active in the Sinai following the January 25 Revolution in 2011 and has since perpetrated attacks against Egyptian police and military stations and personnel, also killing and injuring civilians in the attacked areas.
The U.S. statement listed a number of attacks against Israeli and Egyptian targets, for which Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has been blamed by the Egyptian government. A Twitter account associated with the group also routinely claims responsibility for violent attacks, including the downing of the military helicopter in the Sinai in January 2014, and the bombing of a tour bus in Sinai, killing an Egyptian and three South Koreans.
The designation was decided in consultation with the Departments of Justice and Treasury, and prohibits the U.S. from providing any assistance to the group, and authorizes the American government to seize any assets of the group, read the statement.
Prior to the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis’ operations attacked Israeli targets and Sinai pipelines exporting gas to Israel and Jordan. After Morsi’s overthrow in July 2013 and the dispersal of Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in August, the group started to attack Egyptian targets, and a number of their suspected members have been arrested in a security crackdown in the Sinai by the Egyptian army.
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron recently ordered a probe into the Muslim Brotherhood, currently being conducted by senior diplomatic and intelligence officials, including the U.K.’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia Sir John Jenkins, according to The Independent.
Egypt designated the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization in December 2013 and Saudi Arabia followed suit in March 2014.
