Egypt : Tourism industry gets another fatal bomb attack

A believed-to-be terrorist actwas carried out on Sunday when a bomb denoted inside or beside a tourist bus in Egypt’s Sinai headed to Israel. It has left at least two South Koreans and the Egyptian driver dead while 24 people were wounded. Reports of the two South Korean deaths were confirmed by the country’s foreign ministry. It further stated that 32 South Koreans were on the bus and nine of them have been wounded.
Attacks from the Al Qaeda-inspired Islamist militants against security forces, especially in northern Sinai, have been rampant since the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi by army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.The incident brought back memories of an Islamist uprising in the 1990s that often targeted tourists and took years for former President Hosni Mubarak to crush.
If the Islamist militants are behind this attack it would mean achange in strategy with the tourism industry as a new target. It will highlight that they tend to avoid confrontation with the policeand armed forces who have taken precautions. “This is a cheap win for them without a high risk,” said Mustapha Kamel Al-Sayid, a professor of political science at Cairo University.
The blast took place at around the same time Mursi appeared in court. His Muslim brotherhood has been blamed for most of the attacks but they continue to deny insurgency.The Egyptian tourism minister expressed disappointment and hopes that it“will be an isolated incident that will not recur.” Although the army-installed government has managed to drive the Brotherhood underground, it is struggling to cope with the militants in the Sinai. No group is yet to claim responsibility.
Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the most prominent Sinai group, has claimed responsibility for several attacks.