Egypt: Terrorist attack was carried out in Luxor, no casualties reported

Luxor Karnak Temple
(Image: Life Science)

An attempt of a terrorist attack was made in Upper Egyptian city of Luxor on Wednesday, 10 June, as three militants have allegedly tried to blow up a bomb in the vicinity of the famous Karnal Temple, located on the east bank of the Nile River in Luxor, the popular touristic site.

Egyptian security forces have foiled an attack of the militants with their security operation, that left two of the terrorists dead and one of them critically injured.

An attack occurred in the morning hours, as the militants sat at the coffee shop close to the parking lot of the Karnak Temple. According to the eyewitnesses, they tried to mix with the group of tourists that arrived recently with the bus and tried to get inside the temple but were stopped by the police and the temple security due to their suspicious actions. The bomb which was carried by one of the attackers went off, killing the suicide bomber. One of the attackers was killed later as a result of a police operation, while the third one received a critical head injury.

Egyptian police also prevented the further attacks in the city of Luxor on Wednesday, 10 June.

An attack left no casualties among the city and temple visitors, police personnel and people working at the touristic site. According to the information of Egypt’s Health Ministry spokesperson Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, five people were left injured including civilians and members of security forces. In addition to that one of the temple staff was also injured.

The temple itself and the neighboring territory were not affected by the explosion.

Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities and Luxor Antiquities Director General stated that there were no damages of the ancient site caused by the attack, and the temple itself was open for the visitors after the police operation against the militants. In addition to that Egypt’s security forces took serious security measures, and additional troops were deployed to the site in order to protect the people and the site.

No group has taken responsibility for the recent attack yet, though the number of terrorist attacks and assaults in Egypt has significantly increased after ouster of the Islamist backed President Mohamed Morsi in 2013. Most of the attacks were carried out in the Northern Part of Sinai Peninsula and targeted Egypt’s Armed forces and police.