Islamist terrorists struck again during the early hours, this time in the Egyptian resort area of Sharm el-Sheikh. Casualties are enormous, almost all ordinary Egyptian citizens, plus some foreigners. Ha'aretz reports:
Three explosions ripped through the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh early Saturday, tearing through a hotel and a coffeeshop packed with European and Egyptian tourists. Police and medical officials said that at least 88 people were killed in the deadliest attack in Egypt in nearly a decade.Shaken European tourists spoke of mass panic and hysteria as people fled the carnage in the early hours, with bodies strewn across the roads, people screaming and sirens wailing.
The bombings appeared well coordinated. Two car bombs, possibly suicide attackers, went off simultaneously at 1:15 A.M. some 4 kilometers apart. A third bomb, believed hidden in a sack, detonated around the same time near a beachside walkway where tourists often stroll at night.
At least 120 people were wounded and that at least eight foreigners were among the dead. Officials said that the victims included British, Russian, Dutch, Kuwaitis, Saudis, Qataris and Egyptians.
Police said the explosions were caused by three car bombs in Sharm el-Sheikh and the nearby resort of Naama Bay. One blast went off in the driveway of the Ghazala Gardens hotel, a 176-room four-star resort on the main strip of hotels in Naama Bay, said the governor of South Sinai province, Mustafa Afifi.
El-Adli later said that the bombers had shot dead the security guard at the entrance to the hotel before detonating the bomb.
The reception hall of the luxury Ghazala Gardens hotel collapsed into a pancaked pile of concrete, sending terrified guests fleeing for safety, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene. Rescue workers hours later said they feared more victims may be buried under the rubble.
A second car bomb exploded in a parking area near the Movenpick Hotel, also in Naama Bay, said a receptionist there who declined to identify himself.
The third detonated at a minibus parking lot in the Old Market, an area about four kilometers away, killing 17 people. A security official in the Cairo operations control room monitoring the crisis said he believed most of these casualties were Egyptians sitting at a nearby outdoor coffee shop.
A group citing ties to al-Qaida claimed responsibility for Saturday's Sharm el-Sheikh bombings that killed at least 83 people, according to a statement posted on an Islamic Web site.
The group, calling itself the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, al-Qaida, in Syria and Egypt, said that its "holy warriors targeted the Ghazala Gardens hotel and the Old Market in Sharm el-Sheikh."
The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified.
The brigades were one of two Islamist groups that claimed responsibility for the October 7 bombings at Sinai Peninsula Taba and Ras Shitan that killed 34 people.
"Your brothers, the holy warriors of the martyr Abdullah Azzam Brigades succeeded in launching a smashing attack on the Crusaders, Zionists and the renegade Egyptian regime in Sharm el-Sheikh," said the statement.
Despite the terrorists' own statements, Muslim spokesmen naturally and immediately blamed... the Jews, or America, or whoever.
Less than 24 hours after terrorists killed at least 88 people in attacks on the Sinai resort town of Sharm el- Sheikh, Egyptian sources claimed that Israel was responsible for the deadly bombings.The claims were apparently based on the fact that most of the victims were Egyptian nationals.
Egyptian media analysts, sources in Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian parliamentarian Ala Hasnin, in an interview with the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television network, all suggested Israel was responsible for the attack.
One Egyptian analyst interviewed by Al-Jazeera said that is was in Israel's interest to carry out such a terror attack and thus Jerusalem was thus responsible for Saturday's bombings.
The analyst told Al-Jazeera there is an abnormal concentration of Israelis visiting in Sinai and that they pose a security threat.
"Why are Israelis able to enter Sinai without undergoing stringent security checks?" the analyst asked.
He went on to add that the United States also has a motive to carry out such an attack.
The analyst closed his Al-Jazeera interview by saying that Israel wants to prove what he described as its fallacious claim that terrorism is spreading throughout the region.
Following the bombings, rumors spread across Egypt indicating that the bomb-laden cars used to attack the Sinai resorts sported Israeli license plates.
Related:
• Wikipedia - Sharm el-Sheikh
• Ghazala Gardens Hotel
• Moevenpick Sharm El-Sheikh Jolie Ville Resort & Casino