IS video shows execution of 5 Egyptian "military spies"

IS video shows execution of 5 Egyptian "military spies"

The Islamic State group in Egypt claims to have executed five men it accuses of spying for the army, which is battling the extremists in the Sinai Peninsula.

2 min read
12 February, 2017
Sinai insurgents have killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen since the 2013 military coup [AFP]

The Islamic State group [IS] in Egypt claims to have executed five men it accuses of spying for the army, which is battling the extremists in the Sinai Peninsula.

In a video published on Friday on the group's social media platforms, five men presented as "spies" are seen lying face down on the ground before a militant shoots them in the back of their heads with an assault rifle.

The incident comes after the group on Thursday said that it had fired rockets at the Israeli resort of Eilat in a rare attack from Egyptian territory.

The Israeli army said there were no casualties from Wednesday evening's rocket fire - three of the rockets were allegedly intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defence system and a fourth fell short of the town.

A few hours later, two Palestinians were killed elsewhere in the Sinai. The Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza said it was an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli army denied carrying out any such action.

IS has killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen since the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohammad Morsi in 2013 unleashed a bloody crackdown on his supporters.

The crackdown decimated the Islamist movement and killed hundreds of his followers, and set off an insurgency that has killed hundreds of security personnel.

Most of the attacks have taken place in the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip, but attacks have also been carried out in other areas including Cairo.

The Egyptian army announced on Friday that it had killed "500 terrorists" since it launched a wide-ranging security operation in the Sinai in September 2015.

In October 2015, IS claimed the downing of a plane carrying Russian tourists home from the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, which killed all 224 people on board.