Vanguards of Conquest

Founded as a branch of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad in 1993, the Vanguards of Conquest were a separate faction that eventually folded back into the group under the leadership of Ayman al-Zawahiri. [USIS Washington File, May 9, 2000, “US indicts suspects in East Africa Bombings”, pp 1-4.]

In its first year, the Vanguards carried out two failed assassination attempts, the first in August, a Cairo bombing that only managed to injure Egyptian Interior Minister Hasan al-Alfi, [“Al Jihad: Egypt’s second largest armed Islamic movement”, Agence France Presse, November 18, 1997, p. 1] and three months later a similar bombing aimed at Prime Minister Atef Sedki, which killed a teenage girl at a bus stop. [“Jihad Group”, Milnet Terrorist Group Profiles, September 21, 1998, p. 1] In June 1995, they again launched a failed attack against President Hosni Mubarak. [Terrorist Incidents, Record #7632, Iterate “Ethiopia”, June 26, 1995, p. 1]

The leader of the Vanguards was believed to be Kamel Agiza, and Canadian officials allege that Mohammad Zeki Mahjoub was his second-in-command.Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Summary of the Security Intelligence Report concerning Mohammad Zeki Mahjoub]

The group is alleged to have folded into Qaeda-al-Jihad when Zawahiri merged his group with Osama bin Laden in 2001. But in April 2002, Egyptian security forces arrested 30 men for allegedly planning to revive the Vanguards. [Extremist Groups, 2002, An international compilation of terrorist organizations, violent political groups, and issue-oriented militant movements (electronic document), 2nd Edition; Office of International Criminal Justice and the Institute for the Study of Violent Groups, Sam Houston State University, 2002, “Vanguards of the Islamic Conquest”, p .1]

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