Egyptian security forces arrest suspected ter
Egyptian security forces arrest suspected terReuters

Military forces in Egypt arrested the leader of the military wing of the Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis in north Sinai, the website of Egypt’s Al-Ahram newspaper reports.

The arrest took place on Friday, according to the report. An official source said that the leader, Walid Attalah, is suspected of orchestrating an RPG attack late Thursday in Sinai, which killed three policemen and injured seven others.

"Walid Attalah received Egyptian citizenship during the era of ousted president Mohammed Morsi and he is of Palestinian origins," the source said, according to Al-Ahram.

Attalah is currently being questioned by security officials.

His arrest comes days after a large factory for manufacturing rockets belonging to the group was discovered and destroyed by Egyptian security forces.

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has killed hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police over the last year, since the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi, and beheaded several people in recent weeks, saying they were spies for Israeli intelligence.

Among the attacks claimed by the group since the ouster of Islamist president Mohammed Morsi was the assassination of a top Egyptian police general, who was gunned down as he left his home in a west Cairo neighborhood, and a bus bombing on a tour bus filled with South Korean tourists in the Sinai. 

The group has also claimed responsibility for several rocket attacks that targeted the Israeli resort city of Eilat.