70 Die in Attack at Egypt Temple - The New York Times The New York Times World |70 Die in Attack at Egypt Temple Search Continue reading the main story At least 70 people, including 60 foreign tourists, were killed outside a 3,400-year-old temple here this morning, in what Government officials called the deadliest attack by Islamic militants in their five-year campaign to overthrow the Egyptian Government. While the militants had attacked foreigners in the past, today's strike brought the violence for the first time to the tombs and temples here that have attracted so many visitors in recent years that Luxor had come to resemble a Pharaonic theme park. At 8:45 this morning, as tourists left their buses and walked toward a staircase leading to the Temple of Hatshepsut, they ran into what was apparently a carefully planned ambush by six gunmen who concealed themselves in the structure. The battle between militants and the police that followed sent gunfire crackling for three hours among the sites on the west bank of the Nile, which is home to the famed Valley of the Kings and the tomb of Tutankhamen. Egyptian authorities said all six attackers were killed.

Continue reading the main story Egypt's Interior Ministry said the dead among the tourists included Swiss, Germans and Japanese. The British Foreign Office said six Britons were among the victims. United States officials said they had not been told that any Americans were among the dead. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The massacre seemed bound to exact a heavy toll on an economy that depends heavily on foreign tourism. Only last month, the temple was the scene of a gala moonlight performance of Verdi's opera ''Aida'' sponsored by the Egyptian Government, which has been trying to draw even more tourists to Luxor. The total is now two million a year. Tonight, a very different mood was cast by the flashing red light of a solitary police vehicle that stood watch outside the massive structure, which is partly carved into a limestone cliff. Armed policemen barred reporters from the scene and from a nearby hospital that had been turned into a mortuary for the victims. Hours after the early-morning attack, the details of what happened remained imprecise. The Government gave no breakdown by nationality of those who were killed, and it did not say whether any group had taken responsibility for the attack.

But an Egyptian taxi driver wounded in the shooting said in a hospital here tonight that the attackers had worn red headbands identifying them as members of the Islamic Group, the largest of the militant organizations fighting to topple the Government of President Hosni Mubarak and replace it with an Islamic state. Reuters and Agence France- Presse quoted reports that pamphlets left at the scene of the attack appeared to link it to the Islamic Group. And Egypt's official television referred to the attackers as ''terrorist elements.'' President Hosni Mubarak convened an emergency meeting of his Cabinet tonight. Mr. Mubarak made no public statement, but the Tourism Minister, Mamdou el-Beltagi, told reporters at a travel fair in London that he felt ''shock and sorrow'' at ''this cowards' crime committed against our guests and Egyptians as well.'' The minister was quoted as saying that the Government was doing all it could to protect tourists, but added that it was too early to predict the impact of the massacre on Egypt's $3 billion-a-year tourism industry.

According to accounts by several witnesses, the attack began as a group of tourists who had just arrived by bus began to walk from a parking lot toward a broad stairway leading into the three-level temple, built as the resting place of the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled from 1492 to 1458 B.C. Some witnesses, including the taxi driver, Badawi Ahmed Salam, 33, said the assailants had opened fire from several levels of the temple, first killing police guards and then turning their guns upon tourists. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The Interior Ministry said the six assailants had been armed with six automatic weapons, two handguns and hand-made explosives. One was shot dead at the scene, but the others were not killed until hours of carnage had passed. At one point, according to the police, they boarded a bus to kill Japanese tourists. Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to.

Sign Up Privacy Policy Only after they tried to flee the scene by hijacking a tour bus and then running into forbidding hills were the last five assailants slain by the police, some three hours after their attack began. And even then, hundreds of troops scoured the hills and the surrounding desert in search of possible accomplices to the attack. Among those whom the Egyptian Government said were killed in the shooting were two policemen and two Egyptian civilians. Another 25 people were wounded, 16 of them foreign tourists. Some were so seriously wounded that they were flown by military helicopters to hospitals in Cairo, 315 miles to the north. As the gun battle raged, hundreds of tourists who began their day by crossing from the luxury hotels in Luxor to the sites on the west bank found themselves pinned down. Many of them cowered in fear inside the temples. ''Everyone here is just absolutely devastated,'' a British tourist said tonight. Like most other foreign witnesses still in Luxor this evening, she refused to give her name or to talk much about what she had seen.

Since they began their violent campaign in 1992, Islamic militants in Egypt had killed 34 foreigners in bombings, shootings and other attacks that have left more than 1,200 people dead in all. They also include 9 German tourists killed two months ago in an attack on their tour bus in central Cairo, and 18 Greek tourists who were killed in April 1996. Over the years, the militants have issued several warnings for foreign tourists to leave Egypt. But tourists have flooded back to Egypt in recent years as a harsh Government crackdown has sharply decreased the level of violence. Since 1993, the number of foreign tourists visiting Egypt has increased from 2.5 million to a projected level of 4.2 million this year, a record. Advertisement Continue reading the main story The timing of today's attack suggests that it may have been intended to coincide with a military trial beginning in Cairo of 66 suspected militants accused of plotting to kill Government officials. In addition to the red headband glimpsed by one witness, the evidence linking the Islamic Group to today's attack included pamphlets emblazoned with the group's name and left near the scene, Agence France- Presse reported.

Reuters quoted a tour-agency employee, Ahmed Youssef, as saying that he had seen a pamphlet that read ''No to tourists in Egypt'' and that was signed ''Omar Abdel Rahman's Squadron of Havoc and Destruction.'' Sheik Abdel Rahman, the spiritual leader of the Islamic Group, is serving a life sentence in the United States for plotting to blow up the World Trade Center. The Swiss Foreign Ministry said it thought as many as 20 Swiss nationals were among the slain tourists. Gunmen Kill 60 in Massacre At Egyptian Tourist Facility - The Tech Gunmen Kill 60 in Massacre At Egyptian Tourist Facility By John Lancaster The Washington Post LUXOR, Egypt Gunmen opened fire on foreign tourists gathered at an ancient temple on the Nile River Monday, killing at least 57 foreigners and three Egyptians in the country's deadliest terrorist attack by anti-government extremists. The gunmen launched their attack about 8:45 a.m. as tourists were arriving in buses at the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, a stunning sandstone edifice at the base of a cliff near Luxor's world-renowned Valley of the Kings.

Most of the victims were Japanese, Swiss and German tourists killed in a spray of gunfire as they stood in a courtyard in front of the massive three-level temple, authorities said. About 25 people, 16 of them foreigners, were wounded in the attack. Many of the injured were evacuated by air ambulance to Cairo. Badawy Ahmed Salem, 33, a cab driver, said the gunmen fired at tourists on every level of the temple. "Then they started getting out knives and stabbing people," he said. "They were pulling tourists like sheep on the floor and slaughtering them. � We were up to our knees in blood. Even those who did not die will be dead psychologically." Police exchanged fire with the gunmen, killing one at the scene while the rest fled in a commandeered bus. Over the course of the next several hours, police killed five more gunmen when they sought refuge in nearby desert, authorities said. The attack was the most lethal incident of violence in Egypt since Islamic fundamentalists launched their campaign to topple the secular, military-backed government of President Hosni Mubarak in 1991.

Coming after more than a year of relative calm, and repeated claims of victory by government security officials, the violence served as a brutal reminder of the continued terrorist threat in the Arab world's most populous and, by some reckonings, influential country. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But suspicion centered on the Islamic Group and Islamic Jihad, Egypt's two main militant organizations, and a witness said the attackers' red bandannas bore the Arabic words for Islamic Group. The two organizations' targets have included police, government officials, secular intellectuals and, occasionally, foreign tourists in six years of violence that has killed more than 1,000 people on all sides. Monday's attack was a major setback for Egypt's tourist industry, which has undergone a renaissance of late after several years in the doldrums caused by previous episodes of violence. Tourism is a mainstay of the Egyptian economy and travel agents braced for a wave of cancellations just before the busy holiday travel season. Details of the attack were sketchy. According to news service accounts and an Interior Ministry statement, the gunmen appear to have hidden in or near the temple and opened fire on the tourists as they milled about in the vast courtyard in front of its main steps.

"Four gunmen were inside and two were waiting outside," said a man who owns a souvenir shop on the main road approaching the temple and said he saw the first moments of the attack. According to the Interior Ministry statement, police pursued the stolen bus and eventually surrounded it, killing the five remaining militants during an exchange of gunfire. Inside the bus were abandoned guns, homemade explosives and face masks, the statement said. The ministry reported the death toll at 57 foreign tourists, two Egyptian policemen and an Egyptian tour guide, in addition to the six militants. Authorities rushed hundreds of Interior Ministry troops to the area after the attack. Government ministers flew down from Cairo and Mubarak huddled with senior advisers, Egyptian television reported. Security was tight in Luxor after the attack. Police in armored vests manned roadblocks and carefully searched vehicles traveling between Luxor and the west bank of the Nile on a newly completed bridge. There was no word as to whether there were Americans among those killed, but U.S. diplomats in Cairo were sufficiently concerned that they dispatched an aircraft filled with consular officials to assess the situation and provide assistance as needed, an embassy spokesman said.

The embassy issued a statement warning Americans to avoid southern Egypt "until the security situation is clarified and further notice is provided." The deadliest attack on foreign tourists in Egypt prior to Monday's occurred in April 1996 when militants gunned down 17 Greek tourists and an Egyptian at Cairo's Europa Hotel. Only Vol. 117 Egypt Police Thwart Terrorist Attack Near Karnak Temple, 2 Assailants Killed Egypt Police Thwart Terrorist Attack Near Karnak Temple, 2 Assailants Killed 06/10/15 AT 8:17 AM Close Egypt’s security forces foiled a terrorist attack near the ancient Karnak temple in the tourist city of Luxor after a suicide bomb blast outside its premises, the country’s interior ministry said Wednesday. Two attackers were killed and the third injured. A health ministry spokesman reportedly said two civilians and two policemen were injured in the attack. According to local media reports, three assailants tried to break in the temple, one of Egypt's popular tourist areas. One was killed and another injured in gunfire with the police, while the third managed to break the barricade and blew himself up, Reuters reported.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which is the first against the ancient temple. According to state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA), a senior interior ministry security source said no tourist had been injured, Reuters reported. Police and people stand near the scene of a foiled suicide attack in Luxor, Egypt, June 10, 2015. A suicide bomber blew himself up in the parking lot of Karnak temple in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor on Wednesday, security sources and witnesses said, in an escalation of attacks on tourist sites. Photo: Reuters/Stringer Related Stories The Limits Of Egypt's 'Religious Revolution' The last assault against a temple took place in 1997 when jihadist militants attacked a group of tourists visiting the 3,400-year-old Temple of Hatshepsut on the west bank of the Nile River near the Valley of the Kings. The attack killed 58 people, the Guardian reported. According to BBC , Islamist militants have killed hundreds of security forces and government personnel since the military ousted Egypt’s first democratically elected president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.

Last week, two members of Egypt's Tourism and Antiquities Police force were shot dead on a road near the pyramids at Giza. Egypt's Luxor, just emerging from tourism collapse, fears new blow after attack on temple | Fox News Egypt's Luxor, just emerging from tourism collapse, fears new blow after attack on temple Published June 11, 2015 Facebook 0 Twitter 0 Email Print An Egyptian tourist guide walks through the ruins of the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt, Thursday, June 11, 2015. Militants tried to attack the ancient temple of Karnak in southern Egypt on Wednesday, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up and two gunmen battling police. No sightseers were hurt in the thwarted assault. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press) Visitors tour the Hatshepsut Temple in Deir el-Bahari on the west bank of the Nile River at Luxor, Egypt, Thursday, June 11, 2015. Militants tried to attack the ancient temple of Karnak in southern Egypt on Wednesday, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up and two gunmen battling police.

No sightseers were hurt in the thwarted assault. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press) Egypt's Interior Minister Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar, center, visits the site of a suicide bombing near the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt, Thursday, June 11, 2015. Militants tried to attack the ancient temple of Karnak in southern Egypt on Wednesday, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up and two gunmen battling police. No sightseers were hurt in the thwarted assault. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press) Previous Next LUXOR, Egypt – Residents are in a panic in this Egyptian city of monumental pharaonic temples and ancient tombs, fearing that a foiled terrorist attack outside the famed Karnak Temple will kill the tourist industry on which most of the population depends for their livelihoods, just as it was starting to regain some footing after years of turmoil. A day after the attack, tour operators organized a free day-trip to Luxor for more than 1,000 foreign sightseers brought from a Red Sea resort to bolster the city's spirit and show that it was still a safe and attractive destination.

The tourism, antiquities, security ministers and the prime minister flew to the southern city to reassure locals and foreigners that the security situation is under control. But in the city and surrounding province of nearly 1 million people, around 75 percent of whom earn their living from tourism, it was hard for many to contain their anger at the security agencies. While some praised the police for stopping the attackers from entering the temple, others said authorities should have known better that one of Egypt's prime tourist destinations was an obvious target for an Islamic militant insurgency that has boiled for two years and has moved from revenge attacks on police and soldiers to targeting the economy and the government. The thwarted attack, in which a suicide bomber blew himself up in the parking lot outside the temple and two gunmen opened fire, could have been worse. No tourists were harmed, the temple was not damaged, and the only deaths were the bomber and one of the gunmen, killed by police. The third attacker was severely wounded and arrested, but remains unconscious. It appeared the attackers were all Egyptian, a security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Cushioning the blow to tourism, it took place early in Luxor's low season, the blazing hot summer months when there are already few tourists. Still, "it was the first time that we get the message loud and clear, we have become a target," said Mohammed Othman, deputy chief of the travel agents association in southern Egypt. Since the attack, Othman has worked the phones, answering queries from anxious international companies and diplomats from the U.S., Britain, and Japan — source of some of the city's loyal tourists — over details of the attack and security measures. He said there were no cancellations. It's too early to tell the extent of the blow, he said. But Othman was clearly worried. "Tourism is the mother and father of Luxor," he said with a nervous laugh. "These parents are now sullied." Luxor tourism had just been starting to revive after collapsing following Egypt's 2011 uprising. In 2011, hotel occupancy in Luxor didn't reach 3 percent in the winter high season, Othman said. In 2014, figures climbed up to 15 percent.

This year, though the season has not yet arrived, there has been a rise, a reflection of political stability as President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi tightens his grip on power. That mirrors the fate of tourism nationwide. After the 2011 uprising, the number of tourists tumbled from an all-time high of 14.7 million in 2010 to just over 9 million. Continuous turmoil kept figures low, and then a new blow came with the unrest surrounding the military's ouster in July 2013 of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. But in late 2014, the numbers began to improve. Most tourists, however, go to beach resorts along the Red Sea. Sites with antiquities as a draw — like Luxor, and even Cairo — have suffered more heavily. Karnak Temple, a vast complex that is the second largest ancient religious site in the world after Cambodia's Angor Wat, is just one of the pharaonic treasures that once made Luxor a prime destination. The West Bank of the Nile, across from the city, features monumental temples and the Valley of the Kings, site of pharaonic tombs including that of King Tutankhamun.

The attack brought back memories of 1997, when tourism collapsed after Islamic militants waging a years-long anti-government insurgency killed nearly 60 tourists at temple of Hatshepsut on the West Bank. Tourism took years to recover, even after security forces crushed the militants. Since Morsi's ouster, a new generation of militants centered in the Sinai Peninsula has stepped up a campaign of violence. After months of focusing on security forces, attacks increasingly target government installations and services in the capital. Then on June 3, gunmen on motorcycle killed two policemen outside the famed Giza Pyramids on the capital's outskirts, signaling an ominous shift. "There were already headlines out there. Why didn't the security agencies take that into consideration?" said Nasser Hussein, a tour operator in Luxor who works with British tourist companies. He said that with things picking up in 2015, he had started to make plans for 2016, something that would have been unthinkable last year. "Things were beginning to move," he said. But now "it looks like it is coming to a halt again." "We have a saying that tourism gets sick but doesn't die," Hussein said.

"After what happened, we hope it only gets a little sicker but doesn't die altogether." Hussein criticized police for failing to search the attackers when they drove in a taxi through a checkpoint into the temple's parking lot. The taxi driver alerted police to the men. The driver, Haitham Marei, told the AP he got suspicious when the two men, whom he drove from downtown Luxor to the temple, refused to let him help take their two heavy backpacks in or out of the trunk. "When I tried to help with the bags, one of them pushed me back without saying a word," Marei said. Earlier reports suggested the three attackers arrived together. But Marei said the third was waiting for them at a cafeteria in the temple parking lot. "They didn't look like terrorists," Marei said. "But my heart clenched from their behavior." Another taxi driver who was at the scene at the time of the attack also pointed to lax security, saying when he brings tourists to the site, police at the gate only ask the nationalities. He said residents of the area walk through the main gates and through a second entrance largely unsearched.

He noted how exposed the site is, a giant temple complex nearly 90 acres in size, with residential buildings overlooking it. The driver spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of drawing police anger. Othman, the travel agents association official, says that if he can't help restore Luxor's tourism, he'd rather leave and retire abroad. After the attack, he rushed around the city's hotels to reassure tourists and operators, and made sure the city's sound and light show went on as normal. And he called clients. To his relief, a Chinese group still plans to hold a conference in Luxor. But he still doesn't know if 600 Latin America clients due this month will come or cancel. He was still waiting for their call Thursday. Advertisement Chronology of Significant Terrorist Incidents1997 Tribesmen kidnapped four Italian tourists in Khami. They released the hostages the next day. 4 September Israel Three suicide bombers detonated bombs in the Ben Yehuda shopping mall in Jerusalem, killing eight persons, including the bombers, and wounding nearly 200 others. A dual US-Israeli citizen was among the dead, and seven US citizens were wounded.

The Izz-el-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (HAMAS), claimed responsibility for the attack. 18 September Egypt Gunmen attacked a tourist bus in front of the Egyptian National Antiquities Museum in Tahrir Square, Cairo, killing nine German tourists and their Egyptian busdriver, and wounding eight others. 22 September Jordan Unknown assailants shot and wounded two Israeli security personnel as they sat in a parked vehicle outside an apartment building housing an Israeli Embassy family in Amman. The Jordanian Islamic Resistance claimed responsibility for the attack. The group demanded the release of a Jordanian soldier serving a life sentence for killing seven Israeli schoolchildren and threatened further attacks if Israeli diplomatic personnel did not leave within a month. 13 October Turkey Nine PKK terrorists kidnapped two Bulgarian and one Turkish engineers from a coal mine. The Turkish engineer was found dead, but the Bulgarians were released unharmed on 16 October. 13 October Yemen Bani Dabian tribesmen kidnapped a British businessman and two Yemenis near Sumayr. The tribesmen demanded financial aid for their tribe and completion of electricity and water projects in the region. They released the hostages on 30 October.

Yemen Yemeni tribesmen kidnapped four French tourists in Saada. The tribesmen demanded the return of a car they claimed the government confiscated because of lack of proper documentation. Authorities freed the hostages the next day. 22 October Yemen Al-Hadda tribesmen kidnapped two Russian doctors and their wives in the Zamar region to pressure the government into handing down death sentences to four residents who raped a boy from their tribe. The tribesmen released the four hostages on 10 November. 29 October Yemen Gunmen opened fire on the Qatari Ambassador to Yemen's car in Sanaa. The ambassador escaped the attack. Militants opposed to the mid-November Middle East and North Africa economic conference in Qatar may be responsible. 30 October Yemen Al-Sha'if tribesmen kidnapped a US businessman near Sanaa. The tribesmen sought the release of two fellow tribesmen who were arrested on smuggling charges and several public works projects they claim the government promised them. They released the hostage on 27 November.

17 November Egypt Al-Gama'at al-Islamiyya (IG) gunmen shot and killed 58 tourists and four Egyptians and wounded 26 others at the Hatshepsut Temple in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor. Thirty-four Swiss, eight Japanese, five Germans, four Britons, one French, one Colombian, a dual-national Bulgarian/Briton, and four unidentified persons were among the dead. Twelve Swiss, two Japanese, two Germans, one French, and nine Egyptians were among the wounded. The IG militants left a leaflet at the scene calling for the release of Umar Abd al-Rahman, the IG spiritual leader imprisoned in the United States. 20 November Israel Unknown gunmen shot and killed a Hungarian Yeshiva student and wounded an Israeli student in the Old City of Jerusalem. 22 November Algeria Unidentified hooded attackers killed a German-born man in his home in Ain el Hajar, Saida Province. The victim had lived in Algeria since 1952, had converted to Islam, and was married to an Algerian woman.

25-26 November Yemen Yemeni tribesmen kidnapped a US citizen, two Italians, and two unspecified Westerners near Aden to protest the eviction of a tribe member from his home. The kidnappers released the five hostages on 27 November without incident. 10 December Turkey Authorities defused a powerful time bomb found inside a gas cylinder at a Turkish facility adjoining the international ATAS oil refinery in Mersin. The ATAS refinery is a joint venture of Royal Dutch/Shell group, Mobil Oil, British Petroleum (BP), and Turkey's Marmara Petrol. Source: Excerpted from Patterns of Global Terrorism 1997, U.S. State Department . Articles: ISIS Is the New Imperialism ISIS Is the New Imperialism By Michael Curtis One of life's imponderable problems is to decide whether the glass of water we've been drinking is half full or half empty. The same problem arises in deciding on the present condition of ISIS – whether it is declining or remaining a potent terrorist force. In his press conference on February 4, 2016, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest told his questioner that new U.S.

intelligence reports estimate that the number of ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria had declined from about 31,000 two years ago to 25,000 today. This decline is said to have occurred because of battlefield casualties, desertions and defections to other groups, financial problems, the enhanced performance of Iraqi security forces on the battlefield, and the campaign by the U.S.-led coalition, now supposed to number sixty-six countries, that has attacked and damaged the infrastructure of the oil fields in Iraq. ISIS has also lost some of the territory it held, perhaps 25 percent, largely due to the successful attacks of the Kurds and Iraqi forces. The White House assertion is that the growth in the ranks of ISIS fighters is declining slowly, and that ISIS is having more difficulty than before in replenishing its ranks. Yet this is only part of the story, and unfortunately the lesser part of the story. The glass of ISIS is more than half full. It is premature to claim as the Obama administration has done that ISIS is less significant today than it was a year ago. There are two factors involved. One is that ISIS still maintains considerable territory in Iraq and Syria and has a well organized administrative and efficient structure.

Moreover, the terrorist group is trying to recruit people around the world to replace those of its military who have been killed and has achieved a degree of success. The other factor, now more threatening and one that the Obama administration refuses to recognize, is that ISIS has become an imperialistic power. The terrorists are bold and assertive in their declarations, as they are in their actions. ISIS is no longer merely a terrorist group, but a caliphate, and one that is expanding its influence. There are now nearly 50 affiliate groups of ISIS in 21 countries. All countries, Muslim as well as non-Muslim, are threatened, and particularly the European countries, which have been lax in their protection and security. The organizer, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, of the November 15, 2015 attack in Paris that killed 130 people and injured hundreds boasted that he and 90 other operatives had entered Western European countries, starting through Greece and the island of Leros, Bulgaria, and Romania, by pretending to be refugees from Syria. They had all gone from Syria through Turkey to the EU border.

The EU is belatedly considering border controls on Greece, a country that has not been checking passports carefully or fingerprinting refugees. This is particularly important because ISIS is now proficient in printing false passports. European countries are now troubled by the number of terrorists pretending to be refugees. Germany arrested on February 2, 2016 one of two Algerians, a couple who were members of ISIS and trained by the group, at a refugee shelter in Attendorm, Germany. The couple possessed a large quantity of weapons and ammo and was planning a terrorist attack in Berlin. Two days later in Germany, three others were arrested for the same reason. It is clear that many more have come into the country under false pretenses. All claim to be Syrians fleeing the civil war. The Germans fear the likelihood of a terrorist attack. They closed a soccer game in Hanover, and on New Year's Eve they closed stations in Munich. German chancellor Angela Merkel perhaps now regrets her open-door policy for migrants. By 2015, Germany had taken 1.1 million migrants; in January 2016, it took 91,674. It is now recognized that this is an unacceptable situation in itself.

But also it is simply not possible to process accurately the thousands of applications for asylum, and would-be terrorists have escaped detection. France has been troubled by ISIS adherents for some time, as the massacre in Paris showed. Most recently, in Lyon, on February 6, 2016, six people, five men and one woman, were arrested for planning to attack French nightclubs and then leave the country. They, all of whom were converts to Islam, had already bought tickets to join ISIS in Syria. ISIS imperialism was demonstrated in the same week of February, in Sydney, Australia. Two 18-year-old converts to Islam were arrested on suspicion they were going to commit terrorist acts. The wife of the couple, without consulting Warren Beatty, boasted they would be the Islamic Bonnie and Clyde. The Australian authorities have already reported that in the seven months until February 2016, they had arrested 312 persons suspected of having links with the Islamic State. The present regime in Egypt has long been concerned with the Muslim Brotherhood.

Now it has to deal with the ISIS training camp, the Abu Hajr Al-Masri camp, in the remote desert of Sinai, in which terrorists, wearing black robes and masks, are becoming proficient with weapons and getting fitness training. Egypt has already been the scene of various attacks, in Luxor in 1997 (62 killed) and Sharm el Sheikh in 2005 (88 killed), and in October 2015, when 224 passengers were killed by a bomb on an Airbus A321 passenger jet. Few tourists now want to risk going to the familiar attractions: Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, or the Valley of the Kings. The political chaos in Libya, divided by tribes and regions, has been worsened by the large number – five to six thousand – of fighters affiliated with and being advised by ISIS. The ISIS empire has even reached Indonesia, which suffered an ISIS-inspired attack on January 14, 2016. Terrorists attacked several places in Jakarta, killing eight people and wounding more than 20.

Within the Obama administration, there are divisions on the course of action to combat the Islamic State affiliates in Libya, an oil-rich country. President Barack Obama has approved air strikes, and help to Libyan fighters given by small groups akin to the Special Operations forces in Syria. But Obama, not wanting to get involved in any considerable activity, and hoping that a national unity government can be created in what is now a failed state, and one with warring factions, has rejected, as of now, the advice of Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and General Joseph to use American ground troops. Saudi Arabia says it is willing to take part in a ground operation against ISIS in Iraq and Syria if the U.S. and other countries will do so. Saudi Arabian brigadier general Ahmed Asiri spoke of putting "boots on the ground." The haunting question is, will the U.S. join Saudi Arabia, especially since the Obama administration is not likely to intervene unilaterally or put boots on ground? The task of the American president, now and in the future, is to prevent any possibility that ISIS may purr, "We'll always have Raqqa." One of life's imponderable problems is to decide whether the glass of water we've been drinking is half full or half empty.

The same problem arises in deciding on the present condition of ISIS – whether it is declining or remaining a potent terrorist force. In his press conference on February 4, 2016, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest told his questioner that new U.S. intelligence reports estimate that the number of ISIS fighters in Iraq and Syria had declined from about 31,000 two years ago to 25,000 today. This decline is said to have occurred because of battlefield casualties, desertions and defections to other groups, financial problems, the enhanced performance of Iraqi security forces on the battlefield, and the campaign by the U.S.-led coalition, now supposed to number sixty-six countries, that has attacked and damaged the infrastructure of the oil fields in Iraq. ISIS has also lost some of the territory it held, perhaps 25 percent, largely due to the successful attacks of the Kurds and Iraqi forces. The White House assertion is that the growth in the ranks of ISIS fighters is declining slowly, and that ISIS is having more difficulty than before in replenishing its ranks. Yet this is only part of the story, and unfortunately the lesser part of the story. The glass of ISIS is more than half full.

It is premature to claim as the Obama administration has done that ISIS is less significant today than it was a year ago. There are two factors involved. One is that ISIS still maintains considerable territory in Iraq and Syria and has a well organized administrative and efficient structure. Moreover, the terrorist group is trying to recruit people around the world to replace those of its military who have been killed and has achieved a degree of success. The other factor, now more threatening and one that the Obama administration refuses to recognize, is that ISIS has become an imperialistic power. The terrorists are bold and assertive in their declarations, as they are in their actions. ISIS is no longer merely a terrorist group, but a caliphate, and one that is expanding its influence. There are now nearly 50 affiliate groups of ISIS in 21 countries. All countries, Muslim as well as non-Muslim, are threatened, and particularly the European countries, which have been lax in their protection and security.

The organizer, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, of the November 15, 2015 attack in Paris that killed 130 people and injured hundreds boasted that he and 90 other operatives had entered Western European countries, starting through Greece and the island of Leros, Bulgaria, and Romania, by pretending to be refugees from Syria. They had all gone from Syria through Turkey to the EU border. The EU is belatedly considering border controls on Greece, a country that has not been checking passports carefully or fingerprinting refugees. This is particularly important because ISIS is now proficient in printing false passports. European countries are now troubled by the number of terrorists pretending to be refugees. Germany arrested on February 2, 2016 one of two Algerians, a couple who were members of ISIS and trained by the group, at a refugee shelter in Attendorm, Germany. The couple possessed a large quantity of weapons and ammo and was planning a terrorist attack in Berlin. Two days later in Germany, three others were arrested for the same reason. It is clear that many more have come into the country under false pretenses. All claim to be Syrians fleeing the civil war. The Germans fear the likelihood of a terrorist attack.

They closed a soccer game in Hanover, and on New Year's Eve they closed stations in Munich. German chancellor Angela Merkel perhaps now regrets her open-door policy for migrants. By 2015, Germany had taken 1.1 million migrants; in January 2016, it took 91,674. It is now recognized that this is an unacceptable situation in itself. But also it is simply not possible to process accurately the thousands of applications for asylum, and would-be terrorists have escaped detection. France has been troubled by ISIS adherents for some time, as the massacre in Paris showed. Most recently, in Lyon, on February 6, 2016, six people, five men and one woman, were arrested for planning to attack French nightclubs and then leave the country. They, all of whom were converts to Islam, had already bought tickets to join ISIS in Syria. ISIS imperialism was demonstrated in the same week of February, in Sydney, Australia. Two 18-year-old converts to Islam were arrested on suspicion they were going to commit terrorist acts. The wife of the couple, without consulting Warren Beatty, boasted they would be the Islamic Bonnie and Clyde.

The Australian authorities have already reported that in the seven months until February 2016, they had arrested 312 persons suspected of having links with the Islamic State. The present regime in Egypt has long been concerned with the Muslim Brotherhood. Now it has to deal with the ISIS training camp, the Abu Hajr Al-Masri camp, in the remote desert of Sinai, in which terrorists, wearing black robes and masks, are becoming proficient with weapons and getting fitness training. Egypt has already been the scene of various attacks, in Luxor in 1997 (62 killed) and Sharm el Sheikh in 2005 (88 killed), and in October 2015, when 224 passengers were killed by a bomb on an Airbus A321 passenger jet. Few tourists now want to risk going to the familiar attractions: Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel, or the Valley of the Kings. The political chaos in Libya, divided by tribes and regions, has been worsened by the large number – five to six thousand – of fighters affiliated with and being advised by ISIS.

The ISIS empire has even reached Indonesia, which suffered an ISIS-inspired attack on January 14, 2016. Terrorists attacked several places in Jakarta, killing eight people and wounding more than 20. Within the Obama administration, there are divisions on the course of action to combat the Islamic State affiliates in Libya, an oil-rich country. President Barack Obama has approved air strikes, and help to Libyan fighters given by small groups akin to the Special Operations forces in Syria. But Obama, not wanting to get involved in any considerable activity, and hoping that a national unity government can be created in what is now a failed state, and one with warring factions, has rejected, as of now, the advice of Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter and General Joseph to use American ground troops. Saudi Arabia says it is willing to take part in a ground operation against ISIS in Iraq and Syria if the U.S. and other countries will do so. Saudi Arabian brigadier general Ahmed Asiri spoke of putting "boots on the ground." The haunting question is, will the U.S. join Saudi Arabia, especially since the Obama administration is not likely to intervene unilaterally or put boots on ground?

The task of the American president, now and in the future, is to prevent any possibility that ISIS may purr, "We'll always have Raqqa." Islamic terror : Luxor, Egypt, 1997 - YouTube Islamic terror : Luxor, Egypt, 1997 Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Jun 22, 2008 In 1997 in Luxor, Egypt, islamic militant group Jamar islamir would murder innocent european tourists on holiday. Luxor Locals Scrambling to Save Tourism After Foiled Suicide Attack – Skift Luxor Locals Scrambling to Save Tourism After Foiled Suicide Attack Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press - Jun 13, 2015 9:00 am An Egyptian tourist guide walks through the ruins of the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt, Thursday, June 11, 2015.

Militants tried to attack the ancient temple of Karnak in southern Egypt on Wednesday, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up and two gunmen battling police. No sightseers were hurt in the thwarted assault. Hassan Ammar / Associated Press Photo: Hassan Ammar / Associated Press Share Tweet Post Send Skift Take The current Egyptian government has been such a monumental failure on every level that if the tourism industry wants to survive it’s going to have to take matters into its own hands. — Jason Clampet Residents are in a panic in this Egyptian city of monumental pharaonic temples and ancient tombs, fearing that a foiled terrorist attack outside the famed Karnak Temple will kill the tourist industry on which most of the population depends for their livelihoods, just as it was starting to regain some footing after years of turmoil. A day after the attack, tour operators organized a free day-trip to Luxor for more than 1,000 foreign sightseers brought from a Red Sea resort to bolster the city’s spirit and show that it was still a safe and attractive destination. The tourism, antiquities, security ministers and the prime minister flew to the southern city to reassure locals and foreigners that the security situation is under control.

But in the city and surrounding province of nearly 1 million people, around 75 percent of whom earn their living from tourism, it was hard for many to contain their anger at the security agencies. While some praised the police for stopping the attackers from entering the temple, others said authorities should have known better that one of Egypt’s prime tourist destinations was an obvious target for an Islamic militant insurgency that has boiled for two years and has moved from revenge attacks on police and soldiers to targeting the economy and the government. The thwarted attack, in which a suicide bomber blew himself up in the parking lot outside the temple and two gunmen opened fire, could have been worse. No tourists were harmed, the temple was not damaged, and the only deaths were the bomber and one of the gunmen, killed by police. The third attacker was severely wounded and arrested, but remains unconscious. It appeared the attackers were all Egyptian, a security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. Cushioning the blow to tourism, it took place early in Luxor’s low season, the blazing hot summer months when there are already few tourists.

Still, “it was the first time that we get the message loud and clear, we have become a target,” said Mohammed Othman, deputy chief of the travel agents association in southern Egypt. Since the attack, Othman has worked the phones, answering queries from anxious international companies and diplomats from the U.S., Britain, and Japan— source of some of the city’s loyal tourists — over details of the attack and security measures. He said there were no cancellations. It’s too early to tell the extent of the blow, he said. But Othman was clearly worried. “Tourism is the mother and father of Luxor,” he said with a nervous laugh. “These parents are now sullied.” Luxor tourism had just been starting to revive after collapsing following Egypt’s 2011 uprising. In 2011, hotel occupancy in Luxor didn’t reach 3 percent in the winter high season, Othman said. In 2014, figures climbed up to 15 percent. This year, though the season has not yet arrived, there has been a rise, a reflection of political stability as President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi tightens his grip on power.

That mirrors the fate of tourism nationwide. After the 2011 uprising, the number of tourists tumbled from an all-time high of 14.7 million in 2010 to just over 9 million. Continuous turmoil kept figures low, and then a new blow came with the unrest surrounding the military’s ouster in July 2013 of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. But in late 2014, the numbers began to improve. Most tourists, however, go to beach resorts along the Red Sea. Sites with antiquities as a draw — like Luxor, and even Cairo — have suffered more heavily. Karnak Temple, a vast complex that is the second largest ancient religious site in the world after Cambodia’s Angor Wat, is just one of the pharaonic treasures that once made Luxor a prime destination. The West Bank of the Nile, across from the city, features monumental temples and the Valley of the Kings, site of pharaonic tombs including that of King Tutankhamun.

The attack brought back memories of 1997, when tourism collapsed after Islamic militants waging a years-long anti-government insurgency killed nearly 60 tourists at temple of Hatshepsut on the West Bank. Tourism took years to recover, even after security forces crushed the militants. Since Morsi’s ouster, a new generation of militants centered in the Sinai Peninsula has stepped up a campaign of violence. After months of focusing on security forces, attacks increasingly target government installations and services in the capital. Then on June 3, gunmen on motorcycle killed two policemen outside the famed Giza Pyramids on the capital’s outskirts, signaling an ominous shift. “There were already headlines out there. Why didn’t the security agencies take that into consideration?” said Nasser Hussein, a tour operator in Luxor who works with British tourist companies. He said that with things picking up in 2015, he had started to make plans for 2016, something that would have been unthinkable last year. “Things were beginning to move,” he said. But now “it looks like it is coming to a halt again.” “We have a saying that tourism gets sick but doesn’t die,” Hussein said.

“After what happened, we hope it only gets a little sicker but doesn’t die altogether.” Hussein criticized police for failing to search the attackers when they drove in a taxi through a checkpoint into the temple’s parking lot. The taxi driver alerted police to the men. The driver, Haitham Marei, told the AP he got suspicious when the two men, whom he drove from downtown Luxor to the temple, refused to let him help take their two heavy backpacks in or out of the trunk. “When I tried to help with the bags, one of them pushed me back without saying a word,” Marei said. Earlier reports suggested the three attackers arrived together. But Marei said the third was waiting for them at a cafeteria in the temple parking lot. “They didn’t look like terrorists,” Marei said. “But my heart clenched from their behavior.” Another taxi driver who was at the scene at the time of the attack also pointed to lax security, saying when he brings tourists to the site, police at the gate only ask the nationalities. He said residents of the area walk through the main gates and through a second entrance largely unsearched.

He noted how exposed the site is, a giant temple complex nearly 90 acres in size, with residential buildings overlooking it. The driver spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of drawing police anger. Othman, the travel agents association official, says that if he can’t help restore Luxor’s tourism, he’d rather leave and retire abroad. After the attack, he rushed around the city’s hotels to reassure tourists and operators, and made sure the city’s sound and light show went on as normal. And he called clients. To his relief, a Chinese group still plans to hold a conference in Luxor. But he still doesn’t know if 600 Latin America clients due this month will come or cancel. He was still waiting for their call Thursday. Copyright (2015) Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. This article was written by Sarah El Deeb from The Associated Press and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

After attack, Egypt's Luxor fears new blow to vital tourism | WTOP After attack, Egypt’s Luxor fears new blow to vital tourism By The Associated Press June 12, 2015 9:04 am 06/12/2015 09:04am Share An Egyptian tourist guide walks through the ruins of the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt, Thursday, June 11, 2015. Militants tried to attack the ancient temple of Karnak in southern Egypt on Wednesday, with a suicide bomber blowing himself up and two gunmen battling police. No sightseers were hurt in the thwarted assault. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) LUXOR, Egypt (AP) — Residents are in a panic in this Egyptian city of monumental pharaonic temples and ancient tombs, fearing that a foiled terrorist attack outside the famed Karnak Temple will kill the tourist industry on which most of the population depends for their livelihoods, just as it was starting to regain some footing after years of turmoil.

A day after the attack, tour operators organized a free day-trip to Luxor for more than 1,000 foreign sightseers brought from a Red Sea resort to bolster the city’s spirit and show that it was still a safe and attractive destination. The tourism, antiquities, security ministers and the prime minister flew to the southern city to reassure locals and foreigners that the security situation is under control. But in the city and surrounding province of nearly 1 million people, around 75 percent of whom earn their living from tourism, it was hard for many to contain their anger at the security agencies. While some praised the police for stopping the attackers from entering the temple, others said authorities should have known better that one of Egypt’s prime tourist destinations was an obvious target for an Islamic militant insurgency that has boiled for two years and has moved from revenge attacks on police and soldiers to targeting the economy and the government. The thwarted attack, in which a suicide bomber blew himself up in the parking lot outside the temple and two gunmen opened fire, could have been worse. No tourists were harmed, the temple was not damaged, and the only deaths were the bomber and one of the gunmen, killed by police.

The third attacker was severely wounded and arrested, but remains unconscious. It appeared the attackers were all Egyptian, a security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press. Cushioning the blow to tourism, it took place early in Luxor’s low season, the blazing hot summer months when there are already few tourists. Still, “it was the first time that we get the message loud and clear, we have become a target,” said Mohammed Othman, deputy chief of the travel agents association in southern Egypt. Since the attack, Othman has worked the phones, answering queries from anxious international companies and diplomats from the U.S., Britain, and Japan— source of some of the city’s loyal tourists — over details of the attack and security measures. He said there were no cancellations. It’s too early to tell the extent of the blow, he said. But Othman was clearly worried. “Tourism is the mother and father of Luxor,” he said with a nervous laugh. “These parents are now sullied.” Luxor tourism had just been starting to revive after collapsing following Egypt’s 2011 uprising.

In 2011, hotel occupancy in Luxor didn’t reach 3 percent in the winter high season, Othman said. In 2014, figures climbed up to 15 percent. This year, though the season has not yet arrived, there has been a rise, a reflection of political stability as President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi tightens his grip on power. That mirrors the fate of tourism nationwide. After the 2011 uprising, the number of tourists tumbled from an all-time high of 14.7 million in 2010 to just over 9 million. Continuous turmoil kept figures low, and then a new blow came with the unrest surrounding the military’s ouster in July 2013 of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. But in late 2014, the numbers began to improve. Most tourists, however, go to beach resorts along the Red Sea. Sites with antiquities as a draw — like Luxor, and even Cairo — have suffered more heavily.

Karnak Temple, a vast complex that is the second largest ancient religious site in the world after Cambodia’s Angor Wat, is just one of the pharaonic treasures that once made Luxor a prime destination. The West Bank of the Nile, across from the city, features monumental temples and the Valley of the Kings, site of pharaonic tombs including that of King Tutankhamun. The attack brought back memories of 1997, when tourism collapsed after Islamic militants waging a years-long anti-government insurgency killed nearly 60 tourists at temple of Hatshepsut on the West Bank. Tourism took years to recover, even after security forces crushed the militants. Since Morsi’s ouster, a new generation of militants centered in the Sinai Peninsula has stepped up a campaign of violence. After months of focusing on security forces, attacks increasingly target government installations and services in the capital. Then on June 3, gunmen on motorcycle killed two policemen outside the famed Giza Pyramids on the capital’s outskirts, signaling an ominous shift. “There were already headlines out there. Why didn’t the security agencies take that into consideration?” said Nasser Hussein, a tour operator in Luxor who works with British tourist companies.

He said that with things picking up in 2015, he had started to make plans for 2016, something that would have been unthinkable last year. “Things were beginning to move,” he said. But now “it looks like it is coming to a halt again.” “We have a saying that tourism gets sick but doesn’t die,” Hussein said. “After what happened, we hope it only gets a little sicker but doesn’t die altogether.” Hussein criticized police for failing to search the attackers when they drove in a taxi through a checkpoint into the temple’s parking lot. The taxi driver alerted police to the men. The driver, Haitham Marei, told the AP he got suspicious when the two men, whom he drove from downtown Luxor to the temple, refused to let him help take their two heavy backpacks in or out of the trunk. “When I tried to help with the bags, one of them pushed me back without saying a word,” Marei said. Earlier reports suggested the three attackers arrived together. But Marei said the third was waiting for them at a cafeteria in the temple parking lot. “They didn’t look like terrorists,” Marei said.

“But my heart clenched from their behavior.” Another taxi driver who was at the scene at the time of the attack also pointed to lax security, saying when he brings tourists to the site, police at the gate only ask the nationalities. He said residents of the area walk through the main gates and through a second entrance largely unsearched. He noted how exposed the site is, a giant temple complex nearly 90 acres in size, with residential buildings overlooking it. The driver spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of drawing police anger. Othman, the travel agents association official, says that if he can’t help restore Luxor’s tourism, he’d rather leave and retire abroad. After the attack, he rushed around the city’s hotels to reassure tourists and operators, and made sure the city’s sound and light show went on as normal. And he called clients. To his relief, a Chinese group still plans to hold a conference in Luxor. But he still doesn’t know if 600 Latin America clients due this month will come or cancel. He was still waiting for their call Thursday.

Question: Where is the Valley of the Kings, the scene of a terrorist attack in 1997?
Answer: Egypt