Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Egypt: 2 Tourists, 5 Policemen Killed | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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An image grab taken from an AFPTV video shows the facade of a hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada where an assailant stabbed and killed two foreign women (AFP Photo/STRINGER)


Cairo- Terror struck a security checkpoint in Giza province on Friday, killing five policemen, as Egyptian security and medical sources said that two German tourists were stabbed to death and four others were wounded at two separate beach resorts in the city of Hurghada near the Red Sea.

The sources said: “One of the assailants stabbed to death the two tourists at the beach, then swam to a nearby beach resort and stabbed two other tourists, injuring an Armenian woman and a Czech national.”

The Egyptian Interior Ministry said later it arrested the attacker and was still investigating his motive.

While no party claimed responsibility for the attack, observers believe that ISIS stands behind the two incidents in Egypt. The terrorist organization is known for calling on its militants to kill using kitchen knifes and to run over people by vehicle.

It was the first major attack on foreign tourists in more than a year as Egypt struggles to revive its tourism industry.

The Hurghada attack came only few hours after five policemen were killed when terrorists ambushed Egyptian security officials in the famous pyramids area near Cairo.

The ministry said three gunmen opened fire on a police car and then fled, killing two policemen and three conscripts.

It said the gunmen, riding a motorcycle, hit the five policemen with machine gun fires. They later fled the scene after one policeman who was near the location returned fire.

Security sources said surveillance cameras showed the attackers also seizing the policemen’s weapons.

Meanwhile, an official source at the Saudi Foreign Ministry expressed on Friday the Kingdom’s strong condemnation of the terror attack targeting the security checkpoint in the Giza province.

The source offered condolences to the families of the victims and to the government and people of Egypt, reaffirming Riyadh’s solidarity with Cairo.