Egyptian security identifies attacker on Luxor checkpoint

Egypt’s security agencies have identified the perpetrator of a Friday (August 4th) attack that targeted a checkpoint in the city of Esna in Luxor province, Luxor security chief Maj. Gen. Esam al-Hamli said.

He said investigations have revealed that Amr Saad Abbas, the leader of "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) affiliate Junoud al-Khilafa (Soldiers of the Caliphate), was also behind the attacks on two churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday.

A policeman and a civilian were killed and at least three others were wounded in Friday's attack.

The attack was originally aiming to ram a vehicle packed with explosives -- with Abbas and another Junoud al-Khilafa member on board -- into a vital facility in Luxor, al-Hamli said.

However, members of the security forces manning the Esna checkpoint suspected the vehicle, he said, which prompted the attackers to shoot at them before fleeing the scene.

Civilians on the scene apprehended the group member who was accompanying Abbas, and anti-explosives personnel dismantled the vehicle, he added.

Security forces in Esna continue to look for Abbas and have blocked the entrances and exits of the city, local media reported.

Junoud al-Khilafa "has carried out five terrorist operations in which 100 Christians, policemen and civilians were killed, including the two suicide attacks which targeted Christians at St. Mark Church in Alexandria and St. George Church in Tanta", al-Hamli said.

Interrogations conducted by the High State Security Prosecution have revealed that Abbas leads Junoud al-Khilafa and has succeeded in recruiting many extremists to the group.

Abbas persuaded his brother-in-law, Mahmoud Hassan Mubarak Abdullah, to carry out the suicide bombing at the St. Mark Church in Alexandria on April 9th.