ISIS Claims Responsibility for Cairo Attack on Israeli Tourists
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Islamic State said on Friday its members had carried out an attack on Israeli tourists in Cairo in response to a call by the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to target Jews “everywhere.”
The group said in a statement released on the Internet that light arms were used in the attack, which took place on Thursday outside a Cairo hotel.
Egypt’s Interior Ministry has said the attack was directed at security forces and was carried out by a member of a group of people who had gathered near the hotel and fired bird shot.
Security sources said the tourists were Israeli Arabs.
Islamic State’s Egypt affiliate is waging an insurgency based in the Sinai which has mostly targeted soldiers and policemen.
The tourism industry – a vital source of hard currency in Egypt – is highly sensitive to attacks by militants which have slowed a recovery from years of political turmoil.
Militant violence has been rising since the army toppled Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in 2013 after mass protests against his rule.
Hundreds of members of the security forces have been attacked in suicide bombings and shootings, which persist despite the toughest crackdown on militants in Egypt’s history.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
