Suicide bomber targets ancient Egyptian temple in Luxor

[webfact]

Suicide bomber targets ancient Egyptian temple in Luxor
HAGGAG SALAMA, Associated Press

LUXOR, Egypt (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up on Wednesday at the ancient Egyptian temple of Karnak in Luxor, a southern city frequented by millions of tourists every year, security officials said.

There was no immediate word on casualties from the late morning bombing, but the officials said police foiled two other suicide attacks also targeting the sprawling Nile-side temple, a tourist attraction that rivals the pyramids at Giza, near Cairo.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The attack was the first to target 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.

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.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday's attack, but it bore the hallmarks of Islamic militants who have been battling security forces in the strategic Sinai Peninsula for years. Extremists in Sinai have targeted tourism sites to try to deny the government a key source of revenue.

Last year, the Sinai-based insurgent group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, which has destroyed famed archaeological sites in Syria and Iraq, viewing them as idolatrous.

The campaign of violence in Sinai accelerated and spread to other parts of Egypt following the 2013 military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

The attack on the temple, which sits on the east bank of the Nile, comes as tourism was beginning to show signs of recovery after a four-year slump following the uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-06-10

[Kerryd]

I was on a Nile Cruise boat in '05 when they staged an attack on the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. While we were sitting above one set of locks waiting our turn to go through, I noticed a couple of vehicles had pulled up on the banks of the Nile directly in front of where our boat was nudged into the bank. Didn't think anything about it as we hadn't heard the news yet.

A couple hours later we did get the news of the attack and it turns out, those vehicles on the banks were delivering armed security escorts to go onto each of the cruise boats.

After spending some time in Aswan I took a train back to Cairo and as it turned out my cabin was next door to the - you guessed it - armed security guard that had been put on the train (all the trains as far as I can tell).

After the attacks, residents of Sharm el-Shiekh staged large protest rallies, protesting against the terrorists ! It was one of the first times that a large group of Muslims had openly protested against a terrorist act committed by other Muslims. Tourism is the main source of income for the people of Sharm el-Shiekh so of course a terrorist attack there hurt them more financially than physically. I think it shocked a lot of people in Egypt (and other places) to see how upset the locals were about the attacks in their city.

(Odd, as I think back on Afghanistan it seems that if the "West" did anything even slightly over the edge, protest would spring up everywhere. Yet when the Taliban committed outright atrocities, against their own people, hardly a whisper of discontent was heard at all.)

Not long after Mubarak was overthrown and the Muslim Brotherhood took control of Egypt, certain elements of the Brotherhood expressed a desire to start destroying a lot of Egypt's ancient history, like the Sphinx and many of the ancient temples. I think even the Muslim Brotherhood leaders realized what a folly that would be and someone shut that "certain element" up, not wanting a repeat of what the Taliban had done with the Bamiyan Statues after they'd gained control of Afghanistan. I think any group that were to try and destroy Egypt's ancient history might find themselves on the wrong side of their countrymen very quickly (hopefully).

[ukrules]

Pretty much every place I've visited in Egypt has been blown up or attacked at least once in the last 20 years.

I started off in Cairo, things were tense (police on every street corner) as a bus load of Greek tourists were gunned down about a week or so before I arrived (1996). I went to some big temple on the side of a mountain (Luxor Massacre at Deir el-Bahari), 62 were killed in that attack back in the 90's.

Then I went to Sharm el Sheikh (bombed in 2005), after that got a taxi to Dahab and stayed there for a few days (bombed in 2006). Then on my way to Israel I stopped off at the Taba Hilton for lunch, that was blown up in 2004 by a huge truck bomb.

This was just one trip lasting a few weeks. What a dump, I don't plan on ever going back there.

[Rooo]

Pretty much every place I've visited in Egypt has been blown up or attacked at least once in the last 20 years.

I started off in Cairo, things were tense (police on every street corner) as a bus load of Greek tourists were gunned down about a week or so before I arrived (1996). I went to some big temple on the side of a mountain (Luxor Massacre at Deir el-Bahari), 62 were killed in that attack back in the 90's.

Then I went to Sharm el Sheikh (bombed in 2005), after that got a taxi to Dahab and stayed there for a few days (bombed in 2006). Then on my way to Israel I stopped off at the Taba Hilton for lunch, that was blown up in 2004 by a huge truck bomb.

This was just one trip lasting a few weeks. What a dump, I don't plan on ever going back there.

They probably don't need you back there either, lots of rubbish coming out of your mouth, Wouldn't be Israeli by any chance? Been there several times for extended periods, sure you have to keep your wits about you, but not that S... T you are spewing.

Better stay in the UK with all your close personal hooligan friends.

[bendejo]

The news really hits home when things like this happen in places you've been to.

I was there for a few weeks 2 years ago. What I really liked about the Karnak site was that I was able wander around without having a tout at my heels -- if you've been to Egypt you'll know what I mean.

The attached pic is not where this incident happened, but at the temple in 'downtown' Luxor. It was taken from inside a MacDonalds (they have good coffee).

[ukrules]

Pretty much every place I've visited in Egypt has been blown up or attacked at least once in the last 20 years.

I started off in Cairo, things were tense (police on every street corner) as a bus load of Greek tourists were gunned down about a week or so before I arrived (1996). I went to some big temple on the side of a mountain (Luxor Massacre at Deir el-Bahari), 62 were killed in that attack back in the 90's.

Then I went to Sharm el Sheikh (bombed in 2005), after that got a taxi to Dahab and stayed there for a few days (bombed in 2006). Then on my way to Israel I stopped off at the Taba Hilton for lunch, that was blown up in 2004 by a huge truck bomb.

This was just one trip lasting a few weeks. What a dump, I don't plan on ever going back there.

They probably don't need you back there either, lots of rubbish coming out of your mouth, Wouldn't be Israeli by any chance? Been there several times for extended periods, sure you have to keep your wits about you, but not that S... T you are spewing.

Better stay in the UK with all your close personal hooligan friends.

The above is entirely accurate right down to the dates.

It's probably changed a lot since I was there which as I mentioned was 19 years ago. When did you go ?

[Kerryd]

The news really hits home when things like this happen in places you've been to.

I was there for a few weeks 2 years ago. What I really liked about the Karnak site was that I was able wander around without having a tout at my heels -- if you've been to Egypt you'll know what I mean.

I was lucky as far as the touts were concerned. Maybe because I was there in July when it was too hot for even the touts to be out, or maybe because I was usually moving too fast for them to keep up. On my first trip to the Giza pyramids my guide kept up to me (barely) but we didn't have a long time there as we were on a schedule. On the second trip though the guide and the driver stayed in the van in the parking lot. I took off and told them I'd be back in 2-3 hours. They came looking for me (in the van) and found me on the road 3 hours later (there is a lot to see around the 3 main pyramids, not just the pyramids themselves) !

Still want to go back again one day. I crammed as much as I could into my trip but barely scratched the surface of all there is to see. Now I have all the time in the world, just got to get motivated (and maybe get a better camera too).