Suicide Bomber Attacks Tourist-Friendly Egyptian Temple
Three militants, including one wearing an explosive belt, approached the entrance to the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, Egypt, this morning but were stopped by police. The temple is a popular tourist attraction. While no tourists were hurt, the militant did detonate his bomb, wounding two police officers and two civilians, per The BBC.
No group has taken responsibility for the attack yet, but militants now aligned with ISIS have been targeting Egyptian police and military for the last 18 months in an attempt to weaken the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Now, as The New York Times explains, this attack raises “the possibility that at least some militants may now be turning to the tourism sector for an alternative strategy to impair any economic recovery and destabilize the government.”
Last week, two gunmen attacked tourism police officers at the entrance to the Giza and Sphinx pyramids. The militants shot and killed two officers while riding by on a motorcyle.
