Islamic State branch in Sinai beheads 8 tribesmen

(Photo Al-Ahram)

The militant group Sinai Province (formerly Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis) in the Sinai desert released a new video online early Tuesday showing the beheading of eight men from North Sinai tribes, alledgedly for collaborating with Egyptian armed forces and Israeli Mossad.
The 13-minute video starts with images of civilians purportedly killed by Egyptian security forces during their ongoing military operation against the militant group in North Sinai. The video does not mention the place or date of these deaths. A voiceover vows to avenge the deaths.
The second part of ther videao shows militants opening fire from a moving vehicle on two men in civilian clothes sitting in their truck on the side of a street. The subtitles claim that the men were security officers in plain clothes.  A third part shows six men from North Sinai tribes "confessing" to having collaborated with the Egyptian armed forces and the Israeli Mossad in front of the camera.
One member, reportedly from the North Sinai tribe of Armilat, says he has helped the Israeli Mossad to hunt down members of Amsar Bayt Maqdis. Five men, reportedly from the North Sinai Al-Sawarka and Armilat tribes, say they have co-operated with the Egyptian army in its military campaign against the militant group.
The fourth part of the video, which is the most graphic, shows eight men being decapitated by what militants wearing military uniforms and black scarves around their heads, before displaying some of their bodies along the side of a tarmac road in broad daylight. The video does not mention a specific date for the beheadings.
Security experts believe that the beheadings are a message to tribes in North Sinai not to collaborate with the Egyptian security forces.
In April 2014, an Egyptian court ruled that Ansar Bayt Maqdis was a terrorist organisation. In November 2014, the group announced that it pledged allegiance to Islamic State changing its name to “Sinai Province”.