Sinai militants kill Egyptian officer

An Egyptian officer was killed and another injured on Monday as Egyptian security forces and a militant Islamist group clashed in the Sinai city of El-Arish. Egyptian security sources raided the home of a senior leader in the "Jihadists and Takfiris" movement in the Jisr al-Wadi neighbourhood of El-Arish, a security source told Ma'an's reporter. Militants opened fire on the security forces, who in turn fired back. One officer was killed and another injured in the exchange of gunfire. One militant was detained by police, while the leader managed to escape, Ma'an's correspondent said. The man arrested by police was reportedly in possession of a handgun, grenades and electric detonators. Egyptian security told Ma'an that the "Jihadists and Takfiris" movement follows Al-Qaeda intellectually and demands an end to any military or foreign presence in the Sinai peninsula. Muhammad Eid Musleh Hamad, also known as Muhammad al-Teehi, was detained last week by Egyptian security forces. He is accused of planning the deadly attacks in Israeli border city Eilat in August, as well as a number of attacks in the Egyptian peninsula, a Ma'an correspondent reported. Saboteurs blew up the gas pipeline between Egypt, Israel and Jordan on November 10 in the Northern Sinai using remote controlled bombs, forcing it to shut down, Egyptian security sources said. Egyptian forces launched a security sweep in August to root out suspected Islamist gangs and, according to security sources at the time, captured four Islamist militants as they prepared to blow up a pipeline in El-Arish.