Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Sinai Province
| Sinai Province | |
|---|---|
|
Wilayah Sayna Participant in the Sinai insurgency |
|
Logo of Wilayat Sinai
|
|
| Active | 13 November 2014–present |
| Ideology |
Salafi jihadism Wahhabism |
| Leaders |
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (Leader of ISIL) Abu Hajar al-Hashemi (governor/wali) Abu Osama al-Masri Ashraf Ali Hassanein Gharabali † |
| Headquarters | Sinai Peninsula |
| Area of operations | Egypt |
| Strength | 1,000–1,500 |
| Part of |
 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
|
| Originated as | Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis |
| Allies | Ansar al-Sharia (Egypt) |
| Opponents |
 State of Palestine
|
| Battles and wars | Sinai insurgency, Gaza-Israel conflict |
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Sinai Province (ISIL-SP,Wilayat Sayna) is a branch of the Salafi jihadist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), active in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. The group was formed on 13 November 2014 after the Sinai-based Ansar Bait al-Maqdis (ABM) pledged allegiance to ISIL.
During 2014, Ansar Bait al-Maqdis sent emissaries to ISIL in Syria to seek financial support, weapons and tactical advice. On 10 November 2014, many members of ABM took an oath of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of ISIL. It adopted the name Sinai Province and has since carried out attacks, mostly in North Sinai, but also in other parts of Egypt. While the group has killed hundreds of Egyptian security personnel, it has also been responsible for attacks on civilians, including the killing of Croatian engineer Tomislav Salopek.
On 1 July 2015, the group launched a large scale assault in and around the Sinai town of Sheikh Zuweid, eventually being driven back by Egyptian security forces after at least 100 militants and 17 soldiers were killed in the fighting. According to Brian Fishman of the New America Foundation, the tactics used by the attackers - suicide bombers backed up by direct and indirect fire, mortar fire in combination with small arms, and simultaneous assaults in multiple locations — suggested a transfer of knowledge from ISIL fighters in Iraq and Syria. The group claimed to have shot 3 grad rockets from Sinai to southern Israel near the Gaza Strip. Two rocket hits were confirmed in Eshkol. No one was injured and no damage was made. On 16 July 2015, the group claimed responsibility for launching a rocket attack at an Egyptian Navy patrol boat along the northern coast of Sinai and close to the Gaza Strip.
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