Salafi Jihadist Violence in Egypt’s North Sinai: From Local Insurgency to Islamic State Province

Militancy in Egypt’s North Sinai governorate—a serious problem since that country’s January 2011 uprising—was compounded in November 2014 when Ansar Bayt al Maqdis (“Supporters of Jerusalem”, ABM), the main salafi jihadist organisation in Sinai, swore allegiance to the group that calls itself the Islamic State (IS). This Research Paper closely inspects ABM/Wilayat Sinai and ways in which the group changed over three phases of its existence: from the 2011 uprising to Morsi’s 2013 ouster, from that point until the group’s pledge to IS in 2014, and since the emergence of Islamic State affiliate Wilayat Sinai. This in-depth documentation is meant to serve as a case study of the impact that affiliating with IS has on local salafi jihadist groups.

Read the Research Paper.

How to cite: Gold, Z. “Salafi Jihadist Violence in Egypt's North Sinai: From Local Insurgency to Islamic State Province”, The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague 7, no. 3 (2016). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.19165/2016.1.03