70 arrested after Egyptian resort terror massacre
Egyptian police today struggled to identify dozens of the 88 people killed in three terror bomb blasts at a Red Sea resort.
It is feared Britons may be among the dead following the attack early on Saturday at Sharm el-Sheik on the Red Sea coast of the Sinai Peninsula .
More than 70 people have been arrested since the blasts as police scour the area for clues. None has been accused of involvement in Egypt’s deadliest-ever terror attack, said security officials.
The round-ups appeared similar to police operations after last October’s attacks at the Sinai resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, when 3,000 people were detained and many complained of torture, according to local people and human rights groups.
Some 200 of those are believed to still be in custody, including two Egyptian suspects whose trial is set to resume today.
Egypt’s interior minister has said investigators are looking into whether there were links between the Taba and Sharm blasts, which both took place despite the massive presence of Egyptian security forces in Sinai, a strategically important area bordering Isrel and the Gaza Strip.
Local investigators are also examining the possibility that foreigners carried out the early morning blasts that levelled the reception area of the luxury Ghazala Garden Hotel in Sharm el-Sheik’s popular Naama Bay district and ripped apart a coffee house crowded with Egyptians in the nearby Old Market.
Those blasts, plus a third smaller bomb apparently concealed in a bag that exploded along a Naama Bay boardwalk, have sent shock waves through Egypt’s vital tourism industry.
“It’s not just my job that’s at risk today. It’s everyone’s here,” said Mohammed Ahmed, 32, chief of a marine rescue team. “It’s all about tourists - if they don’t come, we don’t work.”
Naama Bay’s wide streets and soft, sandy beaches were virtually empty of tourists today, with many remaining inside hotels. Workers laboured to repair damaged souvenir shop fronts under a sun-soaked sky.
Policemen were present in large numbers around the bomb blast sites.
Some airlines have flown extra planes to Sharm to carry home tourists wanting to cut short holidays.
Egyptian health officials say at least 34 of the victims have yet to be identified. Those killed were mostly Egyptians, but among the dead were at least seven Westerners.
Local officials in South Sinai said the bodies have been taken to the peninsula’s capital of Tor, where there is a larger morgue. At least 119 people were also injured.
Two rival claims of responsibility have emerged but neither statement could be authenticated.
One group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, al-Qaida, in Syria and Egypt, also claimed responsibility for the October bombings in Taba and for a dual shooting-bomb attack in April in Cairo.
Also, the previously unknown Holy Warriors of Egypt discounted the al-Qaida claim and said it had carried out Saturday’s attack in Sharm.
Police have said the well-coordinated attacks appeared to target holes in the resort’s security.
One suicide bomber barrelled his car packed with 300 kilograms (660 pounds) through the driveway of the Ghazala, one of the few hotels whose reception area is easily accessible from the main road.
