An ISIS-linked terrorist behind the kidnap and murder of an American oil worker was killed in a shootout with Egyptian security forces, officials said Monday.
Egypt's Interior Ministry said Aly Ashraf Hassanein al Gharabli was shot dead after opening fire on police trying to arrest him in Cairo. It did not specify when the operation took place.
The ministry described Gharabli as a "dangerous terrorist" who ran operations for Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which has pledged allegiance to ISIS and its leader.
Gharabli masterminded the kidnap and murder of American William Henderson and the kidnap and beheading of a Croatian national, according to the Interior Ministry. It also said he was the "planner and main executor" of a bombing at the Italian consulate and an attempted attack targeting tourists at the Karnak Temple in Luxor.
Ansar Biet al-Maqdis emerged in wake of the 2011 Egyptian uprisings and now refers to itself as "The Islamic State in Sinai."
The group has claimed responsibility for downing a Russian plane in Egypt's Sinai peninsula, though has not offered proof.
It also has taken credit for a number of terror attacks and assassinations, including Henderson's killing in August 2014.