Egyptian police kill ISIS 'recruitment leader' in Sinai

Egyptian police in the city of al-Arish, the provincial capital of North Sinai, killed the person in charge of recruitment for "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) affiliate Wilayat Sinai in a shootout Tuesday (July 18th), the Interior Ministry said.

Based on intelligence information, police forces stormed a house on al-Ishreen street in al-Arish where extremist elements were believed to be holed up.

A shootout ensued and resulted in the killing of Ahmed Hassan al-Nashu, also known as Ghandar al-Masry, the statement said.

Al-Masry "became in charge of recruiting new members for the group after other ISIS leaders, including Abu Doaa al-Ansari and several members of the group’s shura council, were killed in an Egyptian airstrike", Islamist group expert Ahmed Ban told Al-Mashareq.

Al-Masry was tasked with recruitment "given his ability to communicate with extremist youth and his familiarity with Sinai's terrain", he said.

"His tasks included providing for the group’s food and arms needs, conducting inquiries about potential new recruits ... and checking their religious backgrounds," Ban said.

"The killing of al-Masry is the biggest blow that Wilayat Sinai has been dealt since Abu Anas al-Ansari, the person in charge of training and armament in the group, was killed last April," he said.

Al-Masry is the first senior leader to be killed by the police, Ban said, noting that other top leaders were killed in airstrikes or clashes with the army in the peninsula.

Ban said the police were able to capture al-Masry "after he was forced to leave the caves where he was hiding in central Sinai and moved to a populated area in search of new recruits" following the group's successive losses of his elements.

Ban expected the group "to quickly respond to the killing of its leaders, which may prompt its elements to come out of their hiding places".

"But the army and security forces are largely in control of the security situation in Sinai," he said.