People collect their belongings from their residence as the Egyptian army demolish homes on the Egyptian side of border town of Rafah, northeast of Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014. In the deadliest-ever militant attack on the military, at least 30 soldiers were killed late last month in Sinai, prompting el-Sissi to declare a state of emergency in northern Sinai and order the eviction of some 10,000 people from the town of Rafah on the border with the Gaza Strip. (AP Photo/El Shorouk newspaper, Ahmed Abd El-Latif) EGYPT OUT (The Associated Press)
CAIRO – Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, a jihadi organization based in the northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
The announcement pledging loyalty to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi came in an audio speech posted late Sunday on the Egyptian militant group's official Twitter account and a militant website.
The unknown speaker says Ansar Beit al-Maqdis decided to join the Islamic State group "whose emergence resembles a new dawn raising the banner of monotheism."
Earlier last week, the group denied on its official Twitter account reports saying it had pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, whose Arabic name means Champions of Jerusalem, has claimed responsibility for a number of lethal attacks mainly targeting Egyptian security forces.
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