[Guardian] An Egyptian airstrike has killed the head of the Islamic State affiliate behind scores of deadly attacks on security forces and the suspected of downing a Russian airliner, the army has said.A posting on the Facebook page of the Egyptian military's chief spokesman, Brigadier General Mohammed Samir, said Abu Duaa al-Ansari was killed in an operation south of the Egyptian coastal city of el-Arish.
Several senior aides and at least 45 other militants were killed in an operation carried out jointly by the air force and the anti-terrorism squad, according to Samir’s statement.
Since Egypt’s military overthrew the country’s Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013, jihadis have led an insurgency against the army and police involving daily attacks in north Sinai.
Most of the attacks, which have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, have been claimed by "Sinai Province", the Egyptian branch of Isis. A military source said that Ansari was the group’s "number one" leader.
The name of Abu Duaa al-Ansari is not widely known and had not been previously mentioned as that of the leader of the Sunni militant group, which was known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, or Soldiers of Jerusalem, before it swore allegiance to the Isis group fighting in Syria and Iraq.