CAIRO — Egypt has been battling an insurgency in the Sinai led by an affiliate of the Islamic State. It intensified after the military’s 2013 ouster of the Muslim Brotherhood from power.
Hundreds have been killed, and the militants have expanded their attacks to other parts of Egypt. Here is a look at some of the deadliest attacks:
■ Luxor temple: In November 1997, gunmen opened fire on tourists, killing 62 people, at the Temple of Hatshepsut in the southern city of Luxor, site of many of the country’s pharaonic monuments. It was the deadliest attack of the 1990s insurgency.
■ Sinai attacks: In the mid-2000’s, newly formed Sinai militant groups carried out a series of bombings against beach resorts. A suicide truck bomber hit a Hilton in Taba on the border with Israel in October 2004, and near simultaneous bombings hit two other Sinai resorts, killing a total of 34 people.
In July 2005, bombings hit multiple sites, including a hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh, the biggest of Egypt’s Sinai resorts, killing 88 people. The next April, bombs detonated at locations in Dahab, killing 23 people.
In July this year, gunmen and a suicide bomber attacked a military checkpoint in northern Sinai, killing 23 soldiers.
■ Russian airliner: A Russian Metrojet passenger airline crashed in Sinai after taking off from Sharm el-Sheikh in October 2015, killing more than 220 people on board, mostly Russian tourists. The Sinai affiliate of the Islamic State said it blew up the plane, and Russia said the aircraft was probably downed by explosives.
■ Coptic Christians:A bomb exploded at the al-Qadeeseen Coptic Christian Church, hitting worshipers as they left a midnight Mass on New Year’s 2011, killing more than 20 people in Alexandria. The crime is still unsolved.
In December 2016, a bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt’s main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo killed 30 people and wounded dozens during Sunday Mass.
In April 2017, suicide bombers hit two churches in Alexandria and Tanta during services for Palm Sunday, killing at least 43 people and wounding dozens.
The next month, masked militants killed 28 people when they opened fire on a bus packed with Coptic Christians, including children, heading to a monastery near the southern town Maghagha.
■ Security forces: The ISIS affiliate has also succeeded in striking heavy blows on Egypt’s police and military. In July 2014, gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades attacked a post in Egypt’s western desert near the Libyan border, killing 21 soldiers.
In Sinai only a few months later in October, the ISIS affiliate struck military checkpoints with surprise attacks that killed more than 30.
SOURCE: Associated Press
