The Egyptian military said Thursday (April 20th) it killed a senior "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) cleric and 18 jihadists in airstrikes in the Sinai Peninsula where the extremists are waging an insurgency, AFP reported.
The announcement came after the terrorists claimed a series of attacks, including a shooting near a monastery this week and twin church bombings on April 9th that killed dozens.
Among the extremists killed was "one of the prominent leaders of the so-called Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the head of the religious affairs committee in the group", the military said.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis was the name used by the extremists in Sinai before they pledged allegiance to ISIL in November 2014.
