Attacks on foreign tourists in Egypt

Egypt is currently the focus of attention following a bombing of a bus carrying 15 Vietnamese tourists in Cairo near the Giza pyramids on December 28th. The bomb, hidden near a wall, exploded approximately 5-6 meters from the bus, killing three Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian tour guide. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry called it an act of terrorism. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

This is not the first time foreign tourists have been attacked in Egypt. Numerous extremist Islamic groups linked to ISIS and al-Qaeda have carried out attacks in popular tourist cities here.

On July 14, 2017, 29-year-old Abdel-Rahman Shaaban swam from a public beach to the beach of a resort hotel in Hurghada on the Red Sea and stabbed five German tourists and one Czech national, killing three. The perpetrator shouted that he "was not targeting Egyptians." Hotel staff pursued and apprehended the attacker.

Hurghada had previously witnessed an attack on foreign tourists when, in January 2016, two Islamist militants stormed the Bella Vista hotel, stabbing to death two tourists from Austria and Sweden. One attacker was killed at the scene, the other was captured. The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility.

Russian airline Kogalymavia Flight 9268 crashed on the Sinai Peninsula on October 31, 2015, after departing from Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport in Egypt en route to Saint Petersburg, Russia. All 224 people on board perished, the majority of whom were tourists. The victims included 219 Russians, 4 Ukrainians, and one Belarusian.

Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, the IS branch in Sinai, claimed responsibility. Russian investigators concluded that a bomb had been smuggled onto the plane.

The resort city of Dahab, a favorite destination for both Western tourists and locals, was hit by three consecutive bombings on April 24, 2006, near restaurants, cafes, and a busy market.

Twenty-three people were killed, including citizens of Egypt, Germany, Lebanon, Russia, Switzerland, and Hungary. Approximately 80 were injured, including tourists from Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, South Korea, Lebanon, Palestine, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Investigators believe it was a suicide attack carried out by the Islamic terrorist organization Jama'at al-Tawhīd wal-Jihad.

A series of bombings took place at markets and hotels in the resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula on July 23, 2005. Eighty-eight people were killed, mostly locals, but also including 11 Britons, two Germans, one Czech, six Italians, one Israeli, and one American.

Abdullah Azzam Brigades, a militant group linked to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack, but two other groups later also claimed responsibility.

The Hilton Taba hotel and an Israeli campsite were targeted in three bombings in the Sinai Peninsula on October 7, 2004. Among the 34 dead were 18 locals, 12 Israelis, two Italians, one Russian, and one Israeli-American.

The Egyptian government said the bombers were Palestinians attempting to enter Israel to carry out attacks but were unsuccessful. In fact, Israeli authorities had warned a month earlier that terrorists were planning attacks in Sinai, but most Israelis ignored the warning and went on holiday there anyway.