Terrorism in Egypt
Encyclopedia
Terrorism in Egypt refers to terrorist attacks in Egypt
, many of them linked to Islamic extremism
. Targets have included government officials, police, tourists
and the Christian minority. Terrorism increased in the 1990s when the Islamist movement al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
targeted high level political leaders and killed hundreds in its pursuit of implementing traditional Sharia law
in Egypt.
Ayman Al-Zawahiri
, an Egyptian doctor and leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad group, is believed to be the mastermind behind the operations of al Qaeda. Four out of 30 people on the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation
"most wanted" terrorist list are Egyptian.
is thought to have established "a `secret apparatus`" i.e. "a separate organization for paramilitary activity under the direct authority" the Brethern's head, Sheikh Hassan al-Banna
." The Brotherhood were a very large and active organization at that time. In 1948 the group is thought to have assassinated appellate judge Ahmad Khazendar in retaliation for his passing a "severe sentence" against another member of the Brotherhood.
After the 1948 victory of the Jewish state of Israel over Muslim Arab armies the group is believed to have set fire to homes of Jews in Cairo in June 1948 in retaliation. In July two large department stores in Cairo owned by Jews were also burned. A couple of months later police captured documents and plans of the `secret apparatus.` 32 of its leaders were arrested and its offices were raided. and shortly thereafter Prime Minister Mahmud Fami Naqrashi ordered the dissolution of the Brotherhood.
On 28 December 1948 Prime Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha
was shot and assassinated by Abdel Meguid Ahmed Hassan, a veterinary student and member of the Brotherhood. The country was shocked and traditionalist clergy condemned the act. The Grand Mufti
, Imam of Azhar mosque
and the Council of Ulema
all condemned the perpetrators as kuffar.
Less than two months later the head of the Brethern (Hasan al-Banna) was himself victim of an assassination, the perpetrators thought to be supporters of the murdered premier.
After a nationalist military coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser
overthrew the Egyptian monarchy, the Brotherhood were very disappointed to find the officers were secular in orientation and the Brotherhood did not gain influence. On 26 October 1954 a member of the brotherhood attempted to assassinate President Nasser and a general suppression of the Brotherhood followed, including imprisonment of thousands of members and the execution of six of its most prominent leaders.
under the direction of Israeli military intelligence with the intent to destabilize the Nasser government in the summer of 1954 through terrorist bombings of Egyptian, American
and British
government facilities was unsuccessful and the Israeli trained Egyptian Jewish operatives who planted the bombs were all captured, although all of their Israeli handlers escaped. The Lavon Affair
, so named because Israel
i Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon
was later implicated and forced to resign, was a false flag
operation with evidence planted at the bomb sites implicating the Muslim Brotherhood
.
s and foreign tourists as well as government officials. This trend surprised some foreigners who thought of Egypt as a country that "embraced" foreigners "with suffocating affection" and preferred a "tolerant brand of Islam". Some scholars and authors have credited Islamist writer Sayyid Qutb
as the inspiration for the new wave of attacks.
Qutb, who had been executed in 1967 after another purported plot to assassinate of Abdel Nasser, was author of Ma'alim fi al-Tariq (Milestones), a manifesto for armed jihad
in the advance of Islam
to bring about "the kingdom of God on earth" and to eliminate "the kingdom of man", sometimes referred to as Qutbism
. His book has been called "one of the most influential works in Arabic of the last half century". It became a best seller, went through many editions and strongly influenced Islamists in prison in Egypt.
in Cairo, seizing weapons and vehicles. Led by Salih Sirriya they hoped to kill President Anwar El Sadat and other top Egyptian officials — who were attending an official event nearby in the Arab Socialist Building — seize radio and television buildings (also nearby) and announce the birth of the Islamic Republic of Egypt. 11 were killed and 27 wounded in the attempt as security forces were able to intercept conspirators before they left the academy. 95 ILO members are arrested and tried. 32 were convicted. Two were executed.
(excommunication and exile), kidnapped former Egyptian government minister Muhammad al-Dhahabi. The group was led by a self-taught Islamic preacher Shukri Mustafa
, and called themselves Jama'at al-Muslimin. Among their demands in exchange for al-Dhahabi's release were the release of 60 of Takfir wal-Hijra members from jail, public apologies from the press for negative stories about the group, the publication of a book by Mustafa, and 200,000 Egyptian pounds in cash. Instead of complying, the press began publicized "a long list of offenses and crimes attributed to the group." Four days after the kidnapping, al-Dhahabi's body was found. The murder provokes indignation among the Egyptian public and extensive police raids led to the arrests of 410 of the group's members - i.e. most of its membership.
agreed to become the mufti of the shura (council) of underground Egyptian group Tanzim al-Jihad, the forerunner of Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
. He issued a fatwa sanctioning "the robbery and killing of Copt
s in furtherance of the jihad".
had become unpopular among Egyptians and enraged Islamists by signing a peace treaty with Israel. On 6 October 1981, Sadat and six diplomats were assassinated while observing a military parade commemorating the eighth anniversary of the October 1973 War. Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Islambouli
and two other members of the Tanzim al-Jihad movement fired machine guns and threw grenades into the reviewing stand.
In conjunction with the assassination of Sadat, Tanzim al-Jihad began an insurrection in Asyut
in Upper Egypt
. Rebels took control of the city for a few days on 8 October 1981 before paratroopers from Cairo restored government control. 68 policemen and soldiers were killed in the fighting, but sentences of arrested militants were relatively light, with most of them serving only three years in prison.
, a beach resort area in the Sinai peninsula, in which seven Israelis were killed, including four children. Egypt refused to allow the victims to be treated by Israeli doctors or transferred to hospitals in Israel.
On February 4, 1990, a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Egypt was attacked. Nine Israelis were killed and 16 wounded. This was the fourth attack on Israeli tourists in Egypt since the signing of the peace treaty. The attack, claimed by members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, left 11 people, including nine Israelis, dead and 17 others injured.
Twelve of the people killed in the 2004 Sinai bombings
were Israeli.
The Sinai bus crash in August 2006, in which 11 Arab Israelis were killed, may have been premeditated. Families of the victims allege that evidence collected, including the driver's derogatory and threatening remarks attacking them for being Arabs and Israeli, indicate they were targeted by a cell.
was the primary perpetrator of the attacks, but Egyptian Islamic Jihad also was involved.
by mistake.
The Luxor Massacre took place on 17 November 1997, at Deir el-Bahri
, an archaeological site located across the River Nile from Luxor
in Egypt
. In the mid-morning attack, Islamic terrorists from Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
("The Islamic Group") and Jihad Talaat al-Fath ("Holy War of the Vanguard of the Conquest"), both of which are suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda
massacred 62 tourists at the attraction. The six assailants, armed with automatic firearms and knives, were disguised as members of the security forces. They descended on the Temple of Hatshepsut at around 08:45 and massacred 62 people, their modus operandi
including beheadings and disembowellings
. The attackers then hijacked a bus, but armed Egyptian tourist police and military forces arrived soon afterwards and engaged in a gun battle with the six terrorists, who were later killed or committed suicide.
Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak
partly blamed Great Britain
for the attacks after that country had granted political asylum to Egyptian terrorist leaders.
were three bomb attacks targeting tourist hotel
s in the Sinai Peninsula
, Egypt
, on October 7, 2004. The attacks killed 34 people and injured 171. The explosions occurred in the Hilton Taba
in Taba
and campsites used by Israel
is in Ras al-Shitan. In the Taba attack, a truck drove into the lobby of the Taba Hilton and exploded, killing 31 people and wounding some 159 others. Ten floors of the hotel collapsed following the blast. Some 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) south, at campsites at Ras al-Shitan, near Nuweiba
, two more bombings happened. A car parked in front of a restaurant at the Moon Island resort exploded, killing three Israelis and a Bedouin
. Twelve were wounded. Another blast happened moments later, targeting the Baddiyah camp, but did not harm anyone because the bomber had apparently been scared off from entering the campground by a guard.
Of the dead, many were foreigners: 12 were from Israel
, two from Italy
, one from Russia
, and one was an Israeli-American
. The rest of the dead were believed to be Egyptian. According to the Egyptian government, the bombers were Palestinians who had tried to enter Israel to carry out attacks there but were unsuccessful. The mastermind, Iyad Saleh, recruited Egyptians and Bedouins to gain explosives to be used in the attacks.
. In the early hours of 1 May, security forces arrested some 225 individuals for questioning, mostly from the dead three's home villages and from the area where they lived in Shubra. Particularly keenly sought was Muhammad Yassin, the teenage brother of Ehab Yousri Yassin, whom the police described as the only remaining suspect in the bazaar bomb attack and a material witness to the shooting. Over the course of the weekend, it also emerged that all the attackers were relatives of Ashraf Said, a suspect in the 7 April bombing who was taken in for questioning and died in police custody on 29 April.
The 2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks were a series of bomb attacks on July 23, 2005, targeting the Egypt
ian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh
, located on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula
. Eighty-eight people were killed and over 150 were wounded by the blasts, making the attack the deadliest terrorist
action in the country's history. The bombing coincided with Egypt's Revolution Day, which commemorates Nasser
's 1952 overthrow of King Farouk
.
The attacks took place in the early morning hours, at a time when many tourists and locals were still out at restaurants, cafés and bars. The first bomb blast, at 01:15 local time (22:15 UTC), was reported in a market in downtown Sharm; shortly after, another was reported to have hit the Ghazala Gardens hotel
in the Naama Bay area, a strip of beachfront hotels some 6 km from the town centre.
While the official government toll a few days after the blast was 64, hospitals reported that 88 people had been killed in the bombings. The majority of dead and wounded casualties were Egypt
ians. Among those killed were 11 Britons
, two Germans
, one Czech
, six Italians
, one Israel
i, and one American
. Other casualties, dead and wounded, included foreign visitors from France
, Kuwait
, the Netherlands
, Qatar
, Russia
, and Spain
.
A group calling itself the Abdullah Azzam Brigades (a reference to militant Islamist ideologue Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
) was the first to claim responsibility for the attacks. On a website the group stated that "holy warriors targeted the Ghazala Gardens hotel and the Old Market in Sharm el-Sheikh" and claimed it has ties to Al-Qaeda
. Additional claims were later made by two other groups calling themselves the "Tawhid and Jihad Group in Egypt" and "Holy Warriors of Egypt".
The Dahab bombings of 24 April 2006 were three bomb attacks on the Egypt
ian resort city of Dahab
. The resorts are popular with Western tourists and Egyptians alike during the holiday season.
At about 19:15 local time
on 24 April 2006 — a public holiday in celebration of Sham Al-Nasseim (Spring festival or Easter
) — a series of bombs exploded in tourist areas of Dahab, a resort located on the Gulf of Aqaba
coast of the Sinai Peninsula
. One blast occurred in or near the Nelson restaurant, one near the Aladdin café (both being on both sides of the bridge), and one near the Ghazala market. At least 23 people were killed, mostly Egyptians, but including a German
, Lebanese
, Russia
n, Swiss
, and a Hungarian
. Around 80 people were wounded, including tourists from Australia
, Denmark
, France
, Germany
, Israel
, South Korea
, Lebanon
, the Palestinian Territories
, United Kingdom
, and the United States
.
The governor of South Sinai
reported that the blasts might have been suicide attacks, but later Habib Adly, the interior minister of Egypt said that the devices were nail bomb
s set off by timers, and Egyptian TV also reported that the bombs were detonated remotely. Later investigations revealed the blasts were suicide attacks, set off by Bedouin
s, as in earlier attacks in the Sinai.
These explosions followed other bombings elsewhere in the Sinai Peninsula
in previous years: in Sharm el-Sheikh
on 23 July 2005 and in Taba
on 6 October 2004.
Egyptian security officials have stated that the attacks were the work of an Islamic terror organisation
called Jama'at al-Tawhīd
wal-Jihad (Monotheism and Jihad).
killed a French schoolgirl on a class trip.
in the Sinai, causing tension with the Shia group from Lebanon.
On January 23, 2011 the Egyptian minister of interior Habib El Adli stated that Ahmed Lotfi Ibrahim Mohammed confessed to monitoring Christian and Jewish places of worship and sending pictures of the Qideseen church in Alexandria to the Army of Islam. He had confessed visited Gaza several times and was involved in planning the attack.British intelligence revealed that Muhammad Abd al-Hadi, leader of Jundullah, recruited Abdul Rahman Ahmed Ali who was told to park the car, which would be exploded by remote control.
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, many of them linked to Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism refers to two related and partially overlapping but also distinct aspects of extremist interpretations and pursuits of Islamic ideology:...
. Targets have included government officials, police, tourists
Tourism in Egypt
Tourism is one of the most important sectors in Egypt's economy. More than 12.8 million tourists visited Egypt in 2008, providing revenues of nearly $11 billion. The sector employs about 12 percent of Egypt's workforce. -History:...
and the Christian minority. Terrorism increased in the 1990s when the Islamist movement al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is an Egyptian Islamist movement, and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Egyptian governments...
targeted high level political leaders and killed hundreds in its pursuit of implementing traditional Sharia law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
in Egypt.
Ayman Al-Zawahiri
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri is an Egyptian physician, Islamic theologian and current leader of al-Qaeda. He was previously the second and last "emir" of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, having succeeded Abbud al-Zumar in the latter role when Egyptian authorities sentenced al-Zumar to life...
, an Egyptian doctor and leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad group, is believed to be the mastermind behind the operations of al Qaeda. Four out of 30 people on the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
"most wanted" terrorist list are Egyptian.
Pre-republic terrorism
In 1943 the Islamist group Muslim BrotherhoodHistory of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Ismailia, Egypt by Hassan al-Banna in March 1928 as an Islamist religious, political, and social movement...
is thought to have established "a `secret apparatus`" i.e. "a separate organization for paramilitary activity under the direct authority" the Brethern's head, Sheikh Hassan al-Banna
Hassan al-Banna
Sheikh Hasan Ahmed Abdel Rahman Muhammed al-Banna known as Hasan al-Banna was a schoolteacher and imam, best known for founding the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the largest and most influential 20th century Muslim revivalist organizations.-Early life:Banna was born in 1906 in Mahmoudiyah, Egypt...
." The Brotherhood were a very large and active organization at that time. In 1948 the group is thought to have assassinated appellate judge Ahmad Khazendar in retaliation for his passing a "severe sentence" against another member of the Brotherhood.
After the 1948 victory of the Jewish state of Israel over Muslim Arab armies the group is believed to have set fire to homes of Jews in Cairo in June 1948 in retaliation. In July two large department stores in Cairo owned by Jews were also burned. A couple of months later police captured documents and plans of the `secret apparatus.` 32 of its leaders were arrested and its offices were raided. and shortly thereafter Prime Minister Mahmud Fami Naqrashi ordered the dissolution of the Brotherhood.
On 28 December 1948 Prime Minister Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha
Mahmoud an-Nukrashi Pasha
Mahmoud Fahmi an-Nukrashi Pasha was an Egyptian political figure. He served as the prime minister of Egypt between 1945 and 1946 and again from 1946 and 1948. He was assassinated by a 21 year-old student and member of the Muslim Brotherhood, disguised as a police official, while in office....
was shot and assassinated by Abdel Meguid Ahmed Hassan, a veterinary student and member of the Brotherhood. The country was shocked and traditionalist clergy condemned the act. The Grand Mufti
Dar al-Ifta al-Misriyyah
Dār al-Iftā' al-Miṣriyyah is an educational institute founded to represent Islam and the international flagship for Islamic legal research since its establishment in 1313 AH/1895 CE...
, Imam of Azhar mosque
Al-Azhar University
Al-Azhar University is an educational institute in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 970~972 as a madrasa, it is the chief centre of Arabic literature and Islamic learning in the world. It is the oldest degree-granting university in Egypt. In 1961 non-religious subjects were added to its curriculum.It is...
and the Council of Ulema
Ulema
Ulama , also spelt ulema, refers to the educated class of Muslim legal scholars engaged in the several fields of Islamic studies. They are best known as the arbiters of shari‘a law...
all condemned the perpetrators as kuffar.
Less than two months later the head of the Brethern (Hasan al-Banna) was himself victim of an assassination, the perpetrators thought to be supporters of the murdered premier.
After a nationalist military coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
overthrew the Egyptian monarchy, the Brotherhood were very disappointed to find the officers were secular in orientation and the Brotherhood did not gain influence. On 26 October 1954 a member of the brotherhood attempted to assassinate President Nasser and a general suppression of the Brotherhood followed, including imprisonment of thousands of members and the execution of six of its most prominent leaders.
Lavon affair
A covert operationCovert operation
A covert operation is a military, intelligence or law enforcement operation that is carried clandestinely and, often, outside of official channels. Covert operations aim to fulfill their mission objectives without any parties knowing who sponsored or carried out the operation...
under the direction of Israeli military intelligence with the intent to destabilize the Nasser government in the summer of 1954 through terrorist bombings of Egyptian, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government facilities was unsuccessful and the Israeli trained Egyptian Jewish operatives who planted the bombs were all captured, although all of their Israeli handlers escaped. The Lavon Affair
Lavon Affair
The Lavon Affair refers to a failed Israeli covert operation, code named Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence for plans to plant bombs inside Egyptian, American and...
, so named because Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon
Pinhas Lavon
Pinhas Lavon was an Israeli politician, minister and labor leader, best known for the Lavon Affair.-Early life:Lavon was born as Pinhas Lubianiker in Kopychyntsi in what was previously Galicia in Austria-Hungary . He studied law at the University of Lviv, where he organized Histadrut organizations...
was later implicated and forced to resign, was a false flag
False flag
False flag operations are covert operations designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is flying the flag of a country other than one's own...
operation with evidence planted at the bomb sites implicating the Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
.
Influence of Sayyid Qutb
In 1980s, 90, and 00, terrorist attacks in Egypt became more numerous and severe, and began to target Christian CoptCopt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
s and foreign tourists as well as government officials. This trend surprised some foreigners who thought of Egypt as a country that "embraced" foreigners "with suffocating affection" and preferred a "tolerant brand of Islam". Some scholars and authors have credited Islamist writer Sayyid Qutb
Sayyid Qutb
Sayyid Qutb was an Egyptian author, educator, Islamist theorist, poet, and the leading member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the 1950s and '60s....
as the inspiration for the new wave of attacks.
Qutb, who had been executed in 1967 after another purported plot to assassinate of Abdel Nasser, was author of Ma'alim fi al-Tariq (Milestones), a manifesto for armed jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
in the advance of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
to bring about "the kingdom of God on earth" and to eliminate "the kingdom of man", sometimes referred to as Qutbism
Qutbism
Qutbism is a strain of Sunni Islamist ideology and activism, based on the thought and writings of Sayyid Qutb, an Islamist and former leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood who was executed in 1966. It has been described as advancing the ideology of jihadism, i.e...
. His book has been called "one of the most influential works in Arabic of the last half century". It became a best seller, went through many editions and strongly influenced Islamists in prison in Egypt.
Military Technical College attack
On 18 April 1974 100 members of the Islamic Liberation Organization stormed the armory of the Military Technical CollegeMilitary Technical College
The Military Technical College , in Cairo, is Egypt's scientific military college, whose aim is to supply the army with needed professional engineers...
in Cairo, seizing weapons and vehicles. Led by Salih Sirriya they hoped to kill President Anwar El Sadat and other top Egyptian officials — who were attending an official event nearby in the Arab Socialist Building — seize radio and television buildings (also nearby) and announce the birth of the Islamic Republic of Egypt. 11 were killed and 27 wounded in the attempt as security forces were able to intercept conspirators before they left the academy. 95 ILO members are arrested and tried. 32 were convicted. Two were executed.
Takfir wal-Hijra
On 3 July 1977, a group know to the public as Takfir wal-HijraTakfir wal-Hijra
Jama'at al-Muslimin , popularly known as Takfir wal-Hijra , was a radical Islamist group led by Shukri Mustafa, which emerged in Egypt in the 1960s as an offshoot of Muslim Brotherhood, inspired by Sayyid Qutb.The group was...
(excommunication and exile), kidnapped former Egyptian government minister Muhammad al-Dhahabi. The group was led by a self-taught Islamic preacher Shukri Mustafa
Shukri Mustafa
Shukri Mustafa was an agricultural engineer who led the extremist Islamist group Jama'at al-Muslimin, popularly known as Takfir wal-Hijra. He began his path toward Islamist thought by joining the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1960s. After being arrested for activities related to the group he became...
, and called themselves Jama'at al-Muslimin. Among their demands in exchange for al-Dhahabi's release were the release of 60 of Takfir wal-Hijra members from jail, public apologies from the press for negative stories about the group, the publication of a book by Mustafa, and 200,000 Egyptian pounds in cash. Instead of complying, the press began publicized "a long list of offenses and crimes attributed to the group." Four days after the kidnapping, al-Dhahabi's body was found. The murder provokes indignation among the Egyptian public and extensive police raids led to the arrests of 410 of the group's members - i.e. most of its membership.
Targeting Christians
In spring of 1981, Sheikh Omar Abdel-RahmanOmar Abdel-Rahman
Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman , commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", is a blind Egyptian Muslim leader who is currently serving a life sentence at the Butner Medical Center which is part of the Butner Federal Correctional Institution in Butner, North Carolina, United...
agreed to become the mufti of the shura (council) of underground Egyptian group Tanzim al-Jihad, the forerunner of Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is an Egyptian Islamist movement, and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Egyptian governments...
. He issued a fatwa sanctioning "the robbery and killing of Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
s in furtherance of the jihad".
Sadat assassination and uprising
By 1981 President Anwar SadatAnwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981...
had become unpopular among Egyptians and enraged Islamists by signing a peace treaty with Israel. On 6 October 1981, Sadat and six diplomats were assassinated while observing a military parade commemorating the eighth anniversary of the October 1973 War. Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Islambouli
Khalid Islambouli
Khalid Ahmed Showky Al-Islambouli was an Egyptian army officer who planned and participated in the assassination of Egypt's third president, Anwar Sadat, during the annual 6th October victory parade on 6 October 1981...
and two other members of the Tanzim al-Jihad movement fired machine guns and threw grenades into the reviewing stand.
In conjunction with the assassination of Sadat, Tanzim al-Jihad began an insurrection in Asyut
Asyut
Asyut is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt; the ancient city of the same name is situated nearby. The modern city is located at , while the ancient city is at .- Etymology :...
in Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
. Rebels took control of the city for a few days on 8 October 1981 before paratroopers from Cairo restored government control. 68 policemen and soldiers were killed in the fighting, but sentences of arrested militants were relatively light, with most of them serving only three years in prison.
Attacks on Israelis
The Ras Burqa massacre was a shooting attack in October 1985 on Israeli vacationers in Ras BurqaRas Burqa
Ras Burqa is a resort town on the Red Sea in the district of Nuwaiba, Egypt....
, a beach resort area in the Sinai peninsula, in which seven Israelis were killed, including four children. Egypt refused to allow the victims to be treated by Israeli doctors or transferred to hospitals in Israel.
On February 4, 1990, a bus carrying Israeli tourists in Egypt was attacked. Nine Israelis were killed and 16 wounded. This was the fourth attack on Israeli tourists in Egypt since the signing of the peace treaty. The attack, claimed by members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, left 11 people, including nine Israelis, dead and 17 others injured.
Twelve of the people killed in the 2004 Sinai bombings
2004 Sinai bombings
The 2004 Sinai bombings were three bomb attacks targeting tourist hotels in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, on October 7, 2004. The attacks killed 34 people and injured 171.-The bombings:...
were Israeli.
The Sinai bus crash in August 2006, in which 11 Arab Israelis were killed, may have been premeditated. Families of the victims allege that evidence collected, including the driver's derogatory and threatening remarks attacking them for being Arabs and Israeli, indicate they were targeted by a cell.
Attacks during the 1990s
The violent Islamic insurgency during the 1990s targeted police and government officials but also civilians including tourists. Al-Gama'a al-IslamiyyaAl-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is an Egyptian Islamist movement, and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Egyptian governments...
was the primary perpetrator of the attacks, but Egyptian Islamic Jihad also was involved.
Rifaat el-Mahgoub assassination
In October 1990, Egyptian Islamic Jihad attempted to assassinate Egyptian Interior Minster Abdel-Halim Moussa but ended up killing parliamentary Speaker Rifaat el-MahgoubRifaat el-Mahgoub
Rifaat el-Mahgoub was an important Egyptian politician, speaker of the Egyptian Parliament, and a member of the ruling National Democratic Party....
by mistake.
Daylight ambushes
1993 was a particularly severe year for terrorist attacks in Egypt. 1106 persons were killed or wounded. More police (120) than terrorists (111) were killed that year and "several senior police officials and their bodyguards were shot dead in daylight ambushes."Luxor massacre
Deir el-Bahri
Deir el-Bahari or Deir el-Bahri is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt....
, an archaeological site located across the River Nile from Luxor
Luxor
Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 , with an area of approximately . As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. In the mid-morning attack, Islamic terrorists from Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya
Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya is an Egyptian Islamist movement, and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, European Union and Egyptian governments...
("The Islamic Group") and Jihad Talaat al-Fath ("Holy War of the Vanguard of the Conquest"), both of which are suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
massacred 62 tourists at the attraction. The six assailants, armed with automatic firearms and knives, were disguised as members of the security forces. They descended on the Temple of Hatshepsut at around 08:45 and massacred 62 people, their modus operandi
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
including beheadings and disembowellings
Disembowelment
Disembowelment is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract , usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident, but has also been used as a method of torture and execution...
. The attackers then hijacked a bus, but armed Egyptian tourist police and military forces arrived soon afterwards and engaged in a gun battle with the six terrorists, who were later killed or committed suicide.
Egyptian President
President of Egypt
The President of the Arab Republic of Egypt is the head of state of Egypt.Under the Constitution of Egypt, the president is also the supreme commander of the armed forces and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government....
Hosni Mubarak
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak is a former Egyptian politician and military commander. He served as the fourth President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011....
partly blamed Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
for the attacks after that country had granted political asylum to Egyptian terrorist leaders.
2004 Sinai bombing
The 2004 Sinai bombings2004 Sinai bombings
The 2004 Sinai bombings were three bomb attacks targeting tourist hotels in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, on October 7, 2004. The attacks killed 34 people and injured 171.-The bombings:...
were three bomb attacks targeting tourist hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
s in the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, on October 7, 2004. The attacks killed 34 people and injured 171. The explosions occurred in the Hilton Taba
Hilton Taba
The Hilton Taba & Nelson Village , formerly the Sonesta Hotel and Kfar Nelson is a hotel in Taba, Egypt. Built in 1976, it was the stumbling block in negotiations between Israel and Egypt over the final border between the two countries...
in Taba
Taba (Egypt)
Taba is a small Egyptian town near the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. Taba is the location of Egypt's busiest border crossing with neighboring Israel. Little more than a bus depot and a luxury hotel , Taba is a frequent vacation spot for Egyptians and tourists, especially those from Israel on...
and campsites used by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
is in Ras al-Shitan. In the Taba attack, a truck drove into the lobby of the Taba Hilton and exploded, killing 31 people and wounding some 159 others. Ten floors of the hotel collapsed following the blast. Some 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) south, at campsites at Ras al-Shitan, near Nuweiba
Nuweiba
Nuweiba is a coastal town in the eastern part of Sinai Peninsula, Egypt. Located on the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, it sits at around . It is believed by many to be the site of the Exodus account of ancient Israelites crossing the Red Sea.-Geography:...
, two more bombings happened. A car parked in front of a restaurant at the Moon Island resort exploded, killing three Israelis and a Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
. Twelve were wounded. Another blast happened moments later, targeting the Baddiyah camp, but did not harm anyone because the bomber had apparently been scared off from entering the campground by a guard.
Of the dead, many were foreigners: 12 were from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, two from Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, one from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and one was an Israeli-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The rest of the dead were believed to be Egyptian. According to the Egyptian government, the bombers were Palestinians who had tried to enter Israel to carry out attacks there but were unsuccessful. The mastermind, Iyad Saleh, recruited Egyptians and Bedouins to gain explosives to be used in the attacks.
April 2005 attacks
The April 2005 attacks in Cairo were three related incidents that took place in Cairo on 7 April and 30 April 2005. Two incidents caused no loss of life other than those of the perpetrators and appear not to have been planned in advance; in the first attack, however, three bystanders were killed. Two groups claimed responsibility - the Mujahedeen of Egypt and the Abdullah Azzam Brigades. In its statement, the latter group said the attacks were in retaliation for the government's clampdown on dissidents in the wake of the Sinai Peninsula bombings2004 Sinai bombings
The 2004 Sinai bombings were three bomb attacks targeting tourist hotels in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, on October 7, 2004. The attacks killed 34 people and injured 171.-The bombings:...
. In the early hours of 1 May, security forces arrested some 225 individuals for questioning, mostly from the dead three's home villages and from the area where they lived in Shubra. Particularly keenly sought was Muhammad Yassin, the teenage brother of Ehab Yousri Yassin, whom the police described as the only remaining suspect in the bazaar bomb attack and a material witness to the shooting. Over the course of the weekend, it also emerged that all the attackers were relatives of Ashraf Said, a suspect in the 7 April bombing who was taken in for questioning and died in police custody on 29 April.
2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 35,000...
, located on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
. Eighty-eight people were killed and over 150 were wounded by the blasts, making the attack the deadliest terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
action in the country's history. The bombing coincided with Egypt's Revolution Day, which commemorates Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
's 1952 overthrow of King Farouk
Farouk of Egypt
Farouk I of Egypt , was the tenth ruler from the Muhammad Ali Dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936....
.
The attacks took place in the early morning hours, at a time when many tourists and locals were still out at restaurants, cafés and bars. The first bomb blast, at 01:15 local time (22:15 UTC), was reported in a market in downtown Sharm; shortly after, another was reported to have hit the Ghazala Gardens hotel
Ghazala Gardens hotel
The Ghazala Gardens hotel was a 176-room, four-star establishment in the Naama Bay area of the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, on the Sinai Peninsula. Its sister hotel, the Ghazala, is across the street and is substantially larger...
in the Naama Bay area, a strip of beachfront hotels some 6 km from the town centre.
While the official government toll a few days after the blast was 64, hospitals reported that 88 people had been killed in the bombings. The majority of dead and wounded casualties were Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ians. Among those killed were 11 Britons
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, two Germans
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, one Czech
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, six Italians
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, one Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i, and one American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Other casualties, dead and wounded, included foreign visitors from France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Qatar
Qatar
Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
A group calling itself the Abdullah Azzam Brigades (a reference to militant Islamist ideologue Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam
Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was a highly influential Palestinian Sunni Islamic scholar and theologian, who preached in favor of defensive jihad by Muslims to help the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet invaders...
) was the first to claim responsibility for the attacks. On a website the group stated that "holy warriors targeted the Ghazala Gardens hotel and the Old Market in Sharm el-Sheikh" and claimed it has ties to Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
. Additional claims were later made by two other groups calling themselves the "Tawhid and Jihad Group in Egypt" and "Holy Warriors of Egypt".
2006 Dahab bombings
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian resort city of Dahab
Dahab
Dahab is a small town situated on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, located approximately northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab is considered to be one of the Sinai's most treasured diving destinations...
. The resorts are popular with Western tourists and Egyptians alike during the holiday season.
At about 19:15 local time
Egypt Standard Time
Egypt Standard Time is at UTC+2.As of April 21, 2011, Egypt stopped using daylight saving time. Its standard time is now used the whole year round, with no change in summer....
on 24 April 2006 — a public holiday in celebration of Sham Al-Nasseim (Spring festival or Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
) — a series of bombs exploded in tourist areas of Dahab, a resort located on the Gulf of Aqaba
Gulf of Aqaba
The Gulf of Aqaba is a large gulf located at the northern tip of the Red Sea. In pre twentieth-century and modern sources it is often named the Gulf of Eilat, as Eilat is its predominant Israeli city ....
coast of the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
. One blast occurred in or near the Nelson restaurant, one near the Aladdin café (both being on both sides of the bridge), and one near the Ghazala market. At least 23 people were killed, mostly Egyptians, but including a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n, Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, and a Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
. Around 80 people were wounded, including tourists from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, the Palestinian Territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
The governor of South Sinai
Janub Sina'
South Sinai Governorate is the least populated governorate of Egypt. It is located in the east of the country, encompassing the southern half of the Sinai Peninsula.-Cities:* Dahab* El-Tor* Nuweiba* Saint Catherine* Sharm el-Sheikh* Taba...
reported that the blasts might have been suicide attacks, but later Habib Adly, the interior minister of Egypt said that the devices were nail bomb
Nail bomb
The nail bomb is an anti-personnel explosive device packed with nails to increase its wounding ability. The nails act as shrapnel, leading almost certainly to greater loss of life and injury in inhabited areas than the explosives alone would. The nail bomb is also a type of flechette weapon...
s set off by timers, and Egyptian TV also reported that the bombs were detonated remotely. Later investigations revealed the blasts were suicide attacks, set off by Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
s, as in earlier attacks in the Sinai.
These explosions followed other bombings elsewhere in the Sinai Peninsula
Sinai Peninsula
The Sinai Peninsula or Sinai is a triangular peninsula in Egypt about in area. It is situated between the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, and is the only part of Egyptian territory located in Asia as opposed to Africa, effectively serving as a land bridge between two...
in previous years: in Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh
Sharm el-Sheikh is a city situated on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, Egypt, on the coastal strip along the Red Sea. Its population is approximately 35,000...
on 23 July 2005 and in Taba
Taba (Egypt)
Taba is a small Egyptian town near the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba. Taba is the location of Egypt's busiest border crossing with neighboring Israel. Little more than a bus depot and a luxury hotel , Taba is a frequent vacation spot for Egyptians and tourists, especially those from Israel on...
on 6 October 2004.
Egyptian security officials have stated that the attacks were the work of an Islamic terror organisation
Islamic extremist terrorism
Islamic terrorism is acts of terrorism committed by Muslims for the purpose of achieving varying political and/or religious ends. Islamic terrorism has been identified as taking place in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, and the United States since the 1970s...
called Jama'at al-Tawhīd
Tawhid
Tawhid is the concept of monotheism in Islam. It is the religion's most fundamental concept and holds God is one and unique ....
wal-Jihad (Monotheism and Jihad).
2008 Sudan kidnapping
In September 2008, a group of eleven European tourists and eight Egyptians were kidnapped during an adventure safari to one of the remotest sites in Egypt deep in the Sahara desert and taken to Sudan. They were subsequently released unharmed.2009 Khan el-Khalili bombing
In February 2009 the Khan el-Khalili bombing2009 Khan el-Khalili bombing
The 2009 Khan el-Khalili bombing was a bomb explosion that took place at 6:30 p.m. local time on 22 February 2009 in Khan el-Khalili, a souq in eastern Cairo, Egypt, killing a 17 year old French teenager and injuring 24 other people...
killed a French schoolgirl on a class trip.
2009 Hezbollah plot
In April 2009, Egypt said it had uncovered a Hezbollah plot to attack tourist sites2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt
The 2009 Hezbollah plot in Egypt involves the arrest of 49 men by Egyptian authorities in the five months preceding April 2009. Egypt accuses them of being Hezbollah agents planning attacks against Israeli and Egyptian targets in the Sinai Peninsula...
in the Sinai, causing tension with the Shia group from Lebanon.
al-Qidiseen church bombing
A car bomb explosion outside a church in the north Egyptian city of Alexandria killed at least 21 people and injured 43 following the eve service held at the church causing clashes between Coptic church at the scene and the surrounding policemen. The attack saw governments around the world warn international travellers of the dangers of visiting the country, highlighting a likelihood of further terrorist attacks and possibility of kidnapping in Sinai.On January 23, 2011 the Egyptian minister of interior Habib El Adli stated that Ahmed Lotfi Ibrahim Mohammed confessed to monitoring Christian and Jewish places of worship and sending pictures of the Qideseen church in Alexandria to the Army of Islam. He had confessed visited Gaza several times and was involved in planning the attack.British intelligence revealed that Muhammad Abd al-Hadi, leader of Jundullah, recruited Abdul Rahman Ahmed Ali who was told to park the car, which would be exploded by remote control.