WASHINGTON, April 25 (UPI) -- Israeli intelligence has long been aware of the danger of terrorist attacks against Egyptian targets, particularly in the Sinai. Travel alerts had been issued by the country's intelligence services, warning Israeli citizens to stay away from Egypt, especially from the Sinai, the target of previous terror attacks.
Monday's triple bombings in the Red Sea resort town of Dahab, north of Sharm el-Sheikh in the Sinai Peninsula, killed more than 20 people, according to Egypt's Interior Ministry, but other reports place the number of dead as high as 33, while as many as 150 are among the injured. The explosions come as the tourist season is in full swing in Egypt, with hotels and other vacation spots doing brisk business. Egypt remains a favorite tourist destination for holidaymakers from Europe, especially France, Britain and Germany, and attracts many others from Israel, who come to scuba dive in the clear, azure waters of the Red Sea.
The three explosions, occurring in rapid succession at dusk, carry the hallmark of al-Qaida, whose "signature" has typically been to hit three targets simultaneously, trying to cause as many human casualties as possible. The noticeable difference this time is that timers were used to detonate the bombs instead of suicide volunteers. There may be more to this detail than initially meets the eye, and it may indicate that the attacks are not related to al-Qaida, but may be the work of domestic terrorist groups.
U.S. intelligence officials believe it may still be too early to establish concrete links between Monday's triple bombings and the bin Laden tape -- assuming that links exist in the first place. That the bombings occurred a day after the tape's release may well be a coincidence. However, in all logic, as these things go, it would only seem likely that the attacks were planned well in advance and carried out by a local Egyptian terrorist organization, possibly, but not necessarily, with links to al-Qaida.
Monday's attacks followed that pattern with one bomb exploding near a restaurant, a second close to a cafeteria and the third bomb hitting a local supermarket. The three sites are close to one another.
The triple attack on Dahab comes a day after the release of a new audio tape by Osama bin Laden that was played on al-Jazeera and in which he denounced the "Zionist-crusader wars on Islam" and called for an economic boycott of American products. Monday's attack will hurt Egypt's fledging economy, particularly its tourism industry already suffering from previous terrorist attacks. Tourism is Egypt's second source of revenue, after the Suez Canal.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility, but Israel Channel 1 TV said an Islamic extremist group connected with al-Qaida apparently launched the attack.
The Israeli channel noted that all three terrorist attacks in the Sinai since 2004 took place on days commemorating historic events. The first bombing in Taba, on October 6, 2004 was the day Egypt and Syria launched the October (1973) War, pushing Israeli forces back from the Suez Canal and the Bar Lev Lines, thought to be impregnable. The 1973 October War was also known in the Arab world as Harb Ramadan (the Ramadan War) and in Israel as the Yom Kippur War, as hostilities erupted as both Jewish and Muslim holydays coincided.
The attack on Sharm el-Sheikh on July 23, 2005 occurred on Egypt's Revolution Day, celebrating the bloodless military coup of 1952, when a group of Egyptian military officers, led by Col. Gamal Abdel Nasser, toppled the monarchy. They forced King Farouk to abdicate and pushed him into exile where he remained until his death.
Monday's bombing took place on April 25, the day commemorating Sinai's liberation from Israel in 1982.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak promised that the perpetrators of those "heinous acts of terrorism will be tracked down and punished," the official Egyptian MENA news agency reported. The Hamas-led government in the neighboring Palestinian territories also condemned the attacks, calling them "criminal act which flouts our religion, shakes Palestinian national security and works against Arab interests."
Previous attacks have taken a heavy toll in lives and have disrupted Egypt's economic growth. In July 2005, more than 60 people were killed in Sharm el-Sheik.
In October 2004, more than 30 people were killed in the resorts of Taba and Ras Shitan, close to the Israeli border.
Monday's attack adds to the sad list of endless names whose lives were taken in a war that has been raging now for nearly 60 years.
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(UPI's Israel correspondent Joshua Brilliant contributed to this report.)
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