Another Egyptian jihad attack on a tourist site. From AP:
CAIRO, Egypt – Three explosions rocked the Egyptian resort city of Dahab at the height of the tourist season Monday, killing at least 18 people and wounding more than 150 at just one hotel, according to the doctor in charge of the Sinai peninsula rescue squad.
Police said the explosions hit the central part of the city where there are many shops, restaurants, bars and guesthouses. The blasts ripped through the town shortly after nightfall when the streets would have been jammed with tourists, mainly with Europeans, Israelis and expatriates living in Egypt.
Dr. Said Essa, who runs the rescue squad, said his casualty figures were for victims at the el-Khaleeg Hotel only. He said there were casualties from the other explosions….
Terrorist attacks have killed nearly 100 people at several tourist resorts of Egypt’s Sinai region in the past two years….
The Egyptian government has said the militants who carried out the bombings were locals without international connections, but other security agencies have said they suspect al-Qaida….
Many Israelis travel to the Sinai for beach holidays.
Israel’s ambassador in Cairo, Shalom Cohen, told Israel’s Channel 10 TV that there were three explosions, hitting a hotel, a police station and a marketplace.
“We don’t know of Israelis” who were hurt, he said, though some Israelis were known to be in Dahab.
Cohen said the best thing Israeli tourists in Sinai could do now would be to “go home.”
He said there have been repeated warnings from the Israeli government against visiting the Sinai Desert, where Israelis have been targeted in attacks in the past.
“Unfortunately, the warnings came true,” he said.
Might be a good thing to keep in mind for the future.