As fighting between the Islamic State (IS, formally ISIS) terror militia and various other factions raged in Iraq and Syria, Islamist militias in other parts of the Middle East were also busy fighting against governments and each other. 11 Egyptian paramilitary police officers were killed on Tuesday in an ambush in the Sinai Peninsula, near the border with the Gaza Strip. The Islamist group Ansar Bayt Al Maqdis is suspected of carrying out the attack. Meanwhile, security forces on Egypt’s Western border are warily watching growing links between Ansar and Libyan Islamist groups who have taken control of large swaths of territory and expressed an interest in joining forces with IS to create a regional Islamic suprestate. Elsewhere, Islamist groups across the Middle East and North Africa appear to be drawing inspiration from IS and taking increasingly aggressive action against their governments. Read More
