Egypt: Jihad/martyrdom suicide bomber behind bus blast; victims were Korean Christians visiting holy sites

“An al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, took responsibility for the bombing. On its Twitter account, the organization promised to continue to attack Egypt’s economy, tourism, and military.” Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis means Supporters of the Holy House, that is, Supporters of Jerusalem — illustrating in itself the truth of Aviv Oreg’s observation that attacks like this one are designed to show that “Israel is their target in their aspirations.” And they consider that if they can destabilize the Egyptian economy and government in the bargain, so much the better.

“Egypt says suicide bomber caused deadly bus blast,” from the Times of Israel, February 17:

CAIRO,

A suicide bomber was behind the deadly blast that tore through a bus carrying South Korean tourists, Egyptian security officials said.

The officials said the bomber boarded the bus while it waited near the Egypt-Israel border crossing at Taba in the Sinai Peninsula. The Egyptian driver and the South Korean guide had disembarked but were close to the bus when Sunday’s blast took place, according to the officials….

South Korean officials said the bombing killed three South Koreans and an Egyptian driver. The tourists were Korean Christians who had saved for years to visit Biblical sites on their church’s 60th anniversary.

“The preliminary investigation shows some tourists disembarked to get their bags. A man walked to the bus. There was an explosion when he reached the third step,” interior ministry spokesman Hany Abdel Latif told AFP.

The tourists were all members of the same church group from the central South Korean county of Jincheon and were on a 12-day trip through Turkey, Egypt and Israel. They were about to cross into Israel when the attack occurred.

The South Korean ambassador to Egypt, Kim Young-So, told Seoul’s MBN TV station that the bus bombing appeared to be a “suicide bombing by a terrorist.”

An al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, took responsibility for the bombing. On its Twitter account, the organization promised to continue to attack Egypt’s economy, tourism, and military.

The group, based in the Sinai Peninsula, has deployed several suicide bombers in attacks on police, as well as in a failed attempt to assassinate interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim in September.

Fifteen survivors from the blast crossed into Israel on Monday and are staying at a hotel in the resort city of Eilat, Israel’s Channel 2 news reported. Other tourists who had been on the bus carrying 33 were still hospitalized in the Sinai.

Egypt had reportedly refused offers of Israeli help after the blast, transporting at least 12 injured people to hospitals in the Sinai peninsula instead of the closer Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat….

Maj. (res.) Aviv Oreg, formerly the head of Al Qaeda and Global Jihad desk at the Israel Defense Force’s military intelligence directorate, said the bombing was likely intended to send a message to Jerusalem and Cairo.

For jihadist organizations in the Sinai Peninsula, this sort of attack is ”very sufficient in order to pinpoint that Israel is their target in their aspirations,” he told The Times of Israel.

Police under now deposed president Hosni Mubarak had all but stamped out Islamist militancy after a spate of Sinai resort bombings between 2004 and 2006.

But the three-year period of lawlessness and unrest after Mubarak’s overthrow in 2011 has allowed the militants to regroup in the restive Sinai peninsula and to branch out to the Nile Delta.

“A continuation in attacks on tourists would mean a shift in strategy by jihadist groups that until now targeted the military and police,” said Issandr El Amrani of the International Crisis Group.

“But that cannot be judged after one attack,” he added.

The head of Egypt’s Chamber of Tourism said the attack could have been aimed at hitting the tourism industry, one of Egypt’s top revenue generators.

“The attack aimed at harming tourism in general,” said Elhami al-Zayat….

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Egypt: Christian Syrian family slaughtered

A Christian Syrian family of four living in Alexandria, Egypt, was barbarically stabbed to death Sunday in their home in al-Ibrahamya neighborhood, Arabic media are reporting.

The family consisted of a father, 44, his wife, 35, their 6-year-old son, Michael, and the wife’s brother.

After the murders, the house, where the family had been living for years, was set on fire by the murderers in an attempt to hide the crime but was put out by authorities.

All four bodies were found bearing many stab wounds and other signs of extreme violence.

The wife and child had their throats slit, while the father appeared to have been stabbed to death, with stab wounds all over his body.

The crime was not motivated by theft, as the home was not robbed, and preliminary reports say the family was slaughtered for being supporters of the Bashar Assad government in Syria.

The wife was said to be a vocal supporter, often arguing politics.

Islamists all around the Middle East and especially in Egypt strongly oppose and are supporting a jihad against the moderate Assad government in an attempt to oust it and set up a Sharia state in Syria.

Most religious minorities, including Christians, are supportive of the secular Assad regime, having seen the great violence done against fellow Christians by the Islamic rebels who deem them “infidels.”

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Egypt: Islamic supremacist groups planned to attack synagogues

These synagogues are not active, but are preserved as Egyptian heritage sites. However, given the virulence of Islamic antisemitism, the visceral hatred against those whom the Qur’an designates as “the most intense of the people in animosity toward the believers” (5:82), they’re still targets for Islamic jihadists.

“‘Islamist groups planned to attack Egyptian synagogues,’” from Elder of Ziyon, February 15:

El Badil reports that members of “Ansar al Bayt al Maqdis”, one of the Sinai Islamist groups fighting in Egypt, have admitted to plotting to blow up synagogues in Cairo and Alexandria.

The report says that they were doing surveillance of the spots.

It further quoted security sources as saying that they wouldn't allow any such attacks and citizens should not worry.

I have not seen this verified anywhere else in Egyptian media.

It is hard to know what to believe, as the hatred of much of Egyptian media towards Islamists has caused them to make up stories in the past. It is quite possible that they want to ensure that the Jewish world is sympathetic towards Egypt’s crackdown on civil and human rights in going after Islamists. On the other hand, the idea that Islamists want to attack synagogues is also quite believable.

None of Egypt’s synagogues have any Jewish services anymore, and they are mostly preserved as part of Egyptian heritage.

Source: Jihadwatch
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Egypt: Sinai tourist bus explodes, three dead, 27 wounded

UPDATE: The explosion appears to have been caused by a “device” placed on the bus — hence the murderous attack is almost certainly the work of the warriors of Allah:

آدم مكاري @adamakary
MOI: 3 Koreans killed, 14 injured. 32 passengers. device was already on bus coming from St Catherine. Went off during a drop off at Hilton.

Egyptian Streets @EgyptianStreets
UPDATE: Three tourists killed, 27 injured in bus blast targeting #Egypt's Red Sea Resort of Taba. Reports indicate those dead are Korean.

This story is just breaking. There is no word yet on whether or not this was a jihad attack, although Ahram Online’s “Related Story” is “Are Egypt’s police outmatched in the war on terrorism?,” and Sinai is a hotspot for jihad activity, and jihadists have targeted tourist enterprises before, so it is more likely to be jihad terror than, say, a faulty fuel pump. Still, accidents do happen, as does jihad.

Note to mainstream media reporters: my headline above is how a headline should be written when there is not 100% certainty about the perpetrator. Once the perp is known, to obfuscate his identity and motives is to abet his criminal act which you people regularly do.

“BREAKING: Sinai tourist bus explodes in Egypt’s Taba, at least 3 dead,” from Ahram Online, February 16:

A tourist bus exploded in Taba, Sinai on Sunday afternoon, Egyptian state TV reported.

Security sources said at least three Korean tourists were killed in the blast and others injured.

Al-Ahram Arabic news site reported that 30 tourists of various nationalities were on the bus when it exploded.

Official death and injury tolls are yet to be revealed.

Source: Jihadwatch
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Egypt: U.S. Embassy official in contact with Muslim Brotherhood arrested

Barack Obama has been an indefatigable and unstinting supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, as well as of its proxies in the U.S. Thus it is not surprising that U.S. Embassy employees in Cairo would be Brotherhood allies as well. Obama was the target of vociferous criticism during the anti-Brotherhood demonstrations last summer for his uncritical support of the Brotherhood.

“US Embassy confirms one of its local employees detained,” by Rabab Fathy for Youm7 via the Cairo Post, February 11 (thanks to Joyce):

CAIRO: National Security arrested a local employee on Jan. 25 who works for the U.S. embassy in Cairo, the embassy confirmed Tuesday.

“We confirm that one of our local employees was arrested on Jan. 25. According to our information, there are no charges against him so far,” said Mofid al-Deek, Media Attaché and the spokesperson of the U.S. embassy in Cairo.

Deek said the embassy is communicating with the Egyptian government to understand the reason for the employee’s detention.

A security source reported National Security arrested Ahmed A., a U.S embassy employee in charge of the political Islam file. The source added that the employee was in constant contact with Khairat el-Shater, First Deputy of the General Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood, when the group ruled the country.

The suspect was arrested while participating with others in marches and riots in Giza Governorate. He is being investigated by the National Security Agency to determine the dimensions of his activity.

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