A Tuesday video by militant group “State of Sinai” has claimed the killing of a man by gunshot under the accusation he was an informant for the security forces.
The video does not show the dates when the incidents happened, however, with several decapitated bodies already having been found over the past month in North Sinai.
The video starts with verses from the Quran, followed by footage of militants training and parading in the desert.
Dubbed “War of minds”, the video’s narrator speaks about a digital database showing the personal information of alleged “spies”. Some of those spies had their location pointed to Jerusalem.
It also showed a militant, in front of a laptop, speaking about digital warfare. He described “State of Sinai” as a “red light” which threatens the “Jewish enemy” and “Al-Sisi’s army”.
It then showed a man in Bedouin clothing, claiming the army forced him to drive a car into a checkpoint. He added that later he was stopped by “the jihadists” who later defused the bomb. It is not clear what the fate of the man was.
Another man, the alleged spy, shown wearing orange outfits that the “Islamic State” (IS) executes individuals in, said that he was appointed by Homeland Security, to attend religious lessons in return for money.
He added that the officer gave him money and asked him to dig up information about “the numbers, the cars, and the weapons of the jihadist”.
Later the video show the man being executed by gunfire in the head by a militant.
This was not the first video released by the group showing confessions of alleged “security informers”. A video was released in December 2014 showing the execution of alleged army “agents” by firearms. Another was released in 10 February 2015.
The Sinai-based group has claimed many recent and deadly attacks in North Sinai, particularly in Rafah, Sheikh Zuweid and Al-Arish. They target mainly security personnel and anyone cooperating with them.
A large scale attack was launched on 29 January targeting several security facilities, leaving at least 30 security personnel dead. The group claimed having killed “hundreds” in a statement claiming the attack.
The group pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) in November 2014 when it rebranded itself as “State of Sinai”, instead of Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis.
North Sinai tribes announced their stance with the army and against the militant group. However, it is not clear what kind of help the tribes will provide the army with.
