The ISIL (Daesh) group has called on its followers in Egypt to attack judges and court officials for their role in the ongoing crackdown on militants operating mainly in the restive Sinai Peninsula.
The group posted an audio message Thursday, urging attacks on judges in retaliation for a recent execution of six militants on Sunday on charges of wreaking havoc in Sinai.
“Poison their food, wait for them outside their homes and on the road, destroy their vehicles, learn to blow them up,” the recording said, hailing those behind a recent deadly attack on two judges, a persecutor and their driver in Sinai.
“We will seek vengeance for our brothers and others like them, from the party that sentenced them, and the party that implemented the sentence,” said the recording, calling on all Egyptians to attack government forces.
“The least we can do is kill the tyrants who have jailed our brothers. Don't let them enjoy security while your brothers are tortured in jail,” it said.
The Egyptian military considers the Sinai Peninsula a safe haven for gunmen who use the region as a base for their “acts of terror.”
Since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically elected president, in July 2013, gunmen have launched terrorist attacks in Sinai.
Militants from Velayat Sinai, previously known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks in the region. The group pledged allegiance to the ISIL terrorist group last November.
A state of emergency has been declared in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula since a militant attack on an Egyptian army checkpoint killed more than 30 soldiers in October 2014.
