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Egypt says terror attack foiled at tourist city of Luxor Egypt says terror attack foiled at temple in tourist city of Luxor
(35 minutes later)
Egypt’s interior ministry says security forces have foiled a terrorist attack in the tourist city of Luxor after a suicide bomber blew himself up in the parking lot of the Karnak temple and two other men were killed by police. Egypt’s security forces said they foiled an attack at the ancient Karnak temple in the southern city of Luxor on Wednesday after a suicide bomber blew himself up and police killed two other men.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attempted attack but Islamist militants bent on toppling the Cairo government have killed hundreds of police and soldiers in the past, usually at checkpoints and barracks or police stations. Extremists in Sinai have targeted tourism sites to try to deny the government a key source of revenue. A health ministry spokesman said four Egyptians were wounded. Security sources told Reuters that the injured included bazaar shop owners and police. No tourists were injured, according to interior ministry officials cited by the state news agency Mena.
A health ministry spokesman said four Egyptians were wounded. Security sources said casualties included bazaar shop owners and police. An interior ministry source told the state news agency Mena that no tourists were injured. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attempted attack – a rare incident at one of Egypt’s iconic ancient ruins and a top tourist destination.
Egypt’s antiquities minister issued orders to intensify security at antiquities sites across the country after the attack. Egypt has been shaken by a wave of attacks by insurgents since the military deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. The majority of those attacks have been targeted at members of the security forces, usually at checkpoints and barracks or police stations.
Since 2013 the attacks have been concentrated in the Sinai peninsula, the Nile delta, and greater Cairo. Extremists in Sinai have targeted tourism sites to try to deny the government a key source of revenue.
Egypt’s deadliest armed group, the Sinai-based Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, declared its allegiance to Islamic State in 2014. Isis has destroyed famed archaeological sites in Syria and Iraq, viewing them as idolatrous.
Egypt’s antiquities minister issued orders to intensify security at antiquities sites across the country after Wednesday’s attack.
Officials said three armed men tried to storm a barricade that leads to the Karnak temple site. Two men left the car and engaged in gunfire with police, who killed them. The third man in the car managed to overcome the barricade and blew himself up.Officials said three armed men tried to storm a barricade that leads to the Karnak temple site. Two men left the car and engaged in gunfire with police, who killed them. The third man in the car managed to overcome the barricade and blew himself up.
The attack was the first to target the world-famous attractions in Luxor since November 1997, when Islamic militants opened fire on tourists at the city’s 3,400-year-old Hatshepsut Temple on the west bank of the Nile, killing 58. The attack had echoes of an earlier era of confrontation between the Egyptian state and Islamist militants in the 1990s. Luxor was the scene in 1997 of the massacre of more than 60 people, the vast majority foreign tourists, by militants armed with guns and knives. The attack on the temple of Hatshepsut on the west bank of the Nile was one of the deadliest in a years-long fight between the state and insurgents based in upper Egypt.
Tourism is the lifeblood of Luxor, home to some of Egypt’s most famous ancient temples and pharaonic tombs, including that of King Tutankhamun. The city has been hit hard by a downturn in foreign visitors during the years of unrest since Egypt’s 2011 uprising. In another attack near a tourist site last week, gunmen shot dead two police officers near the Giza pyramids on the outskirts of Cairo. Separately, late on Tuesday, insurgents fired rockets at an airport used by international peacekeeping forces in north Sinai.
Last week gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead two members of Egypt’s tourism and antiquities police force on a road near the Giza pyramids. Related: Tourist desert – Egypt desperate to woo back visitors after years of unrest
Last year, the Sinai-based insurgent group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis pledged allegiance to Islamic State, which has destroyed famed archaeological sites in Syria and Iraq, viewing them as idolatrous. Tourism is the lifeblood of Luxor, home to some of Egypt’s most famous ancient temples and pharaonic tombs, including that of King Tutankhamun. The city has been hit hard by a downturn in foreign visitors that has affected Egypt’s tourist industry in general during the years of unrest since the 2011 uprising.
The campaign of violence in Sinai accelerated and spread to other parts of Egypt following the 2013 military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report