Luxor attack undermines Egypt's efforts to win back tourists
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which left four Egyptians wounded, the health ministry said. No tourists were hurt, according to government officials.
The interior ministry said in a statement that it had “foiled a terrorist attack” at Karnak on Wednesday and that two assailants had been killed and a third wounded.
Islamist militants have killed hundreds of Egyptian police and soldiers over the past two years in a campaign to topple the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
But the extremists have recently shifted tactics and are now focusing on softer targets, including the tourism industry.
Gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead two members of Egypt’s tourism and antiquities police force on a road near the Giza pyramids last week.
Security heightened
Three attackers were involved in Wednesday’s attack at Karnak, around 2 kilometres (1.6 miles) from the centre of Luxor. A senior interior ministry source told Egypt's Middle East News Agency (MENA) that the attackers had tried to target a tourist bus before the security forces confronted them. Security sources and witnesses, however, said the men had tried to storm a barricade to gain entry to the site.
One attacker blew himself up while the others engaged in a gunfight with the security services. Both gunmen were badly wounded; one died on the way to hospital.
Images from the scene of the explosion showed what appeared to be body parts on the ground in front of a tourist shop and on top of a public restroom. Uniformed and plainclothes police gathered nearby while ambulances raced to the scene.
Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty said he has ordered security to be bolstered at ancient sites across Egypt in coordination with the interior ministry.
Struggling industry
The attacks come as Egypt tries to rehabilitate its tourism industry, which accounted for as much as 20 percent of foreign currency revenues before a 2011 popular uprising ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.
The revolt was followed by years of turmoil that kept many foreign tourists away from the Arab world’s most populous country.
From a high of 14.7 million tourists in 2010, Egypt has seen an average of around 9 million visitors annually in the years since, although officials say the tourists are slowly coming back. The industry saw revenues jump to $4 billion in the first half of this year, compared to just $1.9 billion in the same period last year.
Some fear those gains could be reversed in the wake of the recent unrest. Luxor, home to some of Egypt’s most famous ancient temples and pharaonic tombs – including that of King Tutankhamun – is an especially soft target.
In a 1997 attack, 58 tourists and four Egyptians were brutally killed at a temple dedicated to the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, also situated at Luxor.
(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AP)
