SIS: Some try to propagate threat to tourism in Egypt

CAIRO – 15 July 2017: The State Information Service (SIS) released an analytical statement, in three languages, in defense of security efforts to protect tourism against the recent terrorist attacks in Giza and Hurghada on Friday.

“Analysts in France, Belgium, Turkey, Germany and Britain did not speculate that the terrorist attacks which occurred in their countries in 2015 and 2016 constituted a threat to tourism as some people are trying to propagate in the case of Egypt,” the statement read.

Defending the efforts to protect tourists and the field of tourism in Egypt, the statement reviewed the operations of terrorists over the past two years in several foreign countries.

The 2016 attack in Nice, France saw victims from 27 countries. In Brussels, the victims were from 11 different countries, in addition to Belgian citizens, the statement said.

Statistics about terrorist operations in Egypt over the past four years indicate that police forces were the prime target in these attacks together with the armed forces, SIS statement continued.

The statement stressed the security forces’ efforts in tightening the grip on the security order in Egypt, adding that a noticeable change in attacks over the past two years being that terrorists are not targeting security directorates or police stations as was done in the two major blasts targeting the Cairo and Dakahlia security directorates in 2013 and 2014.

The terrorist groups would attack with explosive charges in northeastern Sinai or with fire arms in other parts of Egypt targeting mobile and fixed checkpoints.

“Terrorist groups became lacking fighters and arms thanks to the successive security strikes against them,” the statement indicated.

The statement pointed out that terrorist attacks against mobile and fixed checkpoints are confined to northern Sinai and the outskirts of Giza and Qalyubia governorates where most of the perpetrators were taken to court.

Regarding the attack on foreign tourists in Hurghada, the SIS statement reaffirmed that the motive of the attack has yet to be confirmed, adding that “the two victims are foreigners who were staying in Hurghada where they working.

This will be taken into consideration during investigations regarding the motives behind the attack.”

The 260 Red Sea tourist resorts enjoy tight security measures and a high degree of natural protection along with police security as they are located in coastal areas, the statement manifested.

The statement stressed it was an individual act, similar to the 2016 Hurghada knife attack, as the perpetrators did not have any organizational capabilities.

Attacks targeting tourists in Egypt have decreased over the past 20 years since the Luxor terrorist attack in November 1997 that left 59 victims, the statement added.

Security forces have succeeded in thwarting many attacks like that of 2015 in Luxor’s Al-Karnak Temple and that of the Pyramids area, the statement said.