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| ISIS Affiliate in Egypt Says It Has Beheaded Croatian Prisoner | ISIS Affiliate in Egypt Says It Has Beheaded Croatian Prisoner |
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| CAIRO — A deadly insurgency in Egypt that has been directed largely at soldiers and police officers took a dangerous new turn on Wednesday, as a militant group affiliated with the Islamic State said it had beheaded a Croatian expatriate worker who was kidnapped on the outskirts of Cairo last month. | |
| The claim, if confirmed, would represent the first time that the militant group, Sinai Province, had taken captive and killed a foreigner during two years of attacks against the government. A photograph posted on Wednesday on a Twitter account associated with the group appeared to show the victim, Tomislav Salopek, a 30-year-old father of two, beheaded and lying in the desert. | The claim, if confirmed, would represent the first time that the militant group, Sinai Province, had taken captive and killed a foreigner during two years of attacks against the government. A photograph posted on Wednesday on a Twitter account associated with the group appeared to show the victim, Tomislav Salopek, a 30-year-old father of two, beheaded and lying in the desert. |
| Mr. Salopek’s employer said he was leaving Egypt for a vacation on the day he was abducted and was headed to the airport when gunmen stopped his car. | Mr. Salopek’s employer said he was leaving Egypt for a vacation on the day he was abducted and was headed to the airport when gunmen stopped his car. |
| The apparent killing, which evoked the brutal, videotaped executions by the Islamic State group, was ominous for both Egypt and the region. It provided new evidence that militant groups that have aligned themselves with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, were adopting its tactics. And it was the strongest indication yet that the Egyptian militant group was expanding its focus beyond attacks against the security forces to target civilians and foreigners. | The apparent killing, which evoked the brutal, videotaped executions by the Islamic State group, was ominous for both Egypt and the region. It provided new evidence that militant groups that have aligned themselves with the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, were adopting its tactics. And it was the strongest indication yet that the Egyptian militant group was expanding its focus beyond attacks against the security forces to target civilians and foreigners. |
| The growing threat against foreigners poses a challenge to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, whose government is trying to lure back foreign investment and tourists driven away by years of political turmoil after the country’s 2011 uprising against President Hosni Mubarak. | The growing threat against foreigners poses a challenge to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, whose government is trying to lure back foreign investment and tourists driven away by years of political turmoil after the country’s 2011 uprising against President Hosni Mubarak. |
| The government has repeatedly claimed to be winning its war against militants, and Egyptian officials have been quick to contrast the safety of Egypt with the violent chaos in Syria, Iraq and Libya. | The government has repeatedly claimed to be winning its war against militants, and Egyptian officials have been quick to contrast the safety of Egypt with the violent chaos in Syria, Iraq and Libya. |
| The apparent killing of Mr. Salopek has undermined those assertions and seemed timed to embarrass Mr. Sisi. The militants publicly threatened to kill Mr. Salopek last week, as Mr. Sisi was preparing to host hundreds of foreign dignitaries at a lavish celebration for the opening of a new channel of the Suez Canal. | The apparent killing of Mr. Salopek has undermined those assertions and seemed timed to embarrass Mr. Sisi. The militants publicly threatened to kill Mr. Salopek last week, as Mr. Sisi was preparing to host hundreds of foreign dignitaries at a lavish celebration for the opening of a new channel of the Suez Canal. |
| Nageh Ibrahim, a founder and former member of the once-militant Islamic Group, which fought an insurgency against the government in the 1990s but later renounced violence, said the shifting tactics of Sinai Province were an attempt to ensure the attacks resonated far beyond Egypt. | Nageh Ibrahim, a founder and former member of the once-militant Islamic Group, which fought an insurgency against the government in the 1990s but later renounced violence, said the shifting tactics of Sinai Province were an attempt to ensure the attacks resonated far beyond Egypt. |
| “This has an international effect, more than any of the other hits,” he said, adding that the attacks on the security services were seen as costly and dangerous by the militants, and had done little harm to the government’s standing. | “This has an international effect, more than any of the other hits,” he said, adding that the attacks on the security services were seen as costly and dangerous by the militants, and had done little harm to the government’s standing. |
| Mr. Salopek had been in Egypt for six months, working as a subcontractor for the Egyptian subsidiary of a French company that works in oil and gas exploration, according to Christophe Barnini, a spokesman for the company, CGG. Mr. Salopek was abducted at gunpoint on July 22 while driving on a highway southwest of Cairo, the Egyptian authorities said. | Mr. Salopek had been in Egypt for six months, working as a subcontractor for the Egyptian subsidiary of a French company that works in oil and gas exploration, according to Christophe Barnini, a spokesman for the company, CGG. Mr. Salopek was abducted at gunpoint on July 22 while driving on a highway southwest of Cairo, the Egyptian authorities said. |
| Investigators have not said whether they think he was specifically targeted or was taken by militants when the opportunity to seize a foreigner presented itself. | |
| Mr. Salopek appeared in a video distributed by Sinai Province last week, wearing peach coveralls with one of his masked captors standing beside him, saying that he had been told he would be killed within 48 hours unless the Egyptian government released Muslim women from prisons — a recurring demand by the militants. | Mr. Salopek appeared in a video distributed by Sinai Province last week, wearing peach coveralls with one of his masked captors standing beside him, saying that he had been told he would be killed within 48 hours unless the Egyptian government released Muslim women from prisons — a recurring demand by the militants. |
| The group did not say which prisoners it had in mind, and the deadline passed on Friday. In the Twitter post on Wednesday, the militants said Mr. Salopek had been killed because of Croatia’s “participation in the war against the Islamic State.” | The group did not say which prisoners it had in mind, and the deadline passed on Friday. In the Twitter post on Wednesday, the militants said Mr. Salopek had been killed because of Croatia’s “participation in the war against the Islamic State.” |
| Croatia’s prime minister, Zoran Milanovic, speaking Wednesday in Zagreb, the capital, said his government could not confirm the death of Mr. Salopek “with 100 percent certainty.” | Croatia’s prime minister, Zoran Milanovic, speaking Wednesday in Zagreb, the capital, said his government could not confirm the death of Mr. Salopek “with 100 percent certainty.” |
| However, he added: “What we see does not look good. It looks awful.” | |
| After killing hundreds of soldiers and police officers over the past two years, Egyptian militants have recently mounted more ambitious assaults, unleashing a torrent of violence since June. The militants have killed Egypt’s top prosecutor, briefly occupied a town in the northern Sinai Peninsula and fired a missile at a naval ship. They have also tried to attack two of Egypt’s most popular tourist destinations, the pyramids and the Karnak temple in Luxor, and have bombed the Italian Consulate in Cairo. | After killing hundreds of soldiers and police officers over the past two years, Egyptian militants have recently mounted more ambitious assaults, unleashing a torrent of violence since June. The militants have killed Egypt’s top prosecutor, briefly occupied a town in the northern Sinai Peninsula and fired a missile at a naval ship. They have also tried to attack two of Egypt’s most popular tourist destinations, the pyramids and the Karnak temple in Luxor, and have bombed the Italian Consulate in Cairo. |
| Sinai Province, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State last fall, is the most active of a number of militant groups that have stepped up attacks on the government after the military ouster of Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013. In addition to its operations against the military and the police, the group has carried out summary executions of Egyptians in Sinai whom it has accused of collaborating with the military and claimed responsibility for the killing of an American oil company worker, William Henderson, during an apparent carjacking last year. | Sinai Province, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State last fall, is the most active of a number of militant groups that have stepped up attacks on the government after the military ouster of Egypt’s Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, in 2013. In addition to its operations against the military and the police, the group has carried out summary executions of Egyptians in Sinai whom it has accused of collaborating with the military and claimed responsibility for the killing of an American oil company worker, William Henderson, during an apparent carjacking last year. |
| Omar Ashour, a senior lecturer in security studies at the University of Exeter in Britain and a fellow at Chatham House, said that lately, the group “has been steadily expanding the scale and scope and the intensity of its operations, including reaching outside the Sinai.” | Omar Ashour, a senior lecturer in security studies at the University of Exeter in Britain and a fellow at Chatham House, said that lately, the group “has been steadily expanding the scale and scope and the intensity of its operations, including reaching outside the Sinai.” |
| Sinai Province “has acquired military abilities that are unprecedented in Egypt’s history of insurgency,” Mr. Ashour said. But even as the group has grown more sophisticated, the government’s response, never particularly effective, remained unchanged, he said. | Sinai Province “has acquired military abilities that are unprecedented in Egypt’s history of insurgency,” Mr. Ashour said. But even as the group has grown more sophisticated, the government’s response, never particularly effective, remained unchanged, he said. |
| “The continuity in the government’s policies is the glorification of the iron fist,” he said. | “The continuity in the government’s policies is the glorification of the iron fist,” he said. |