Gunmen Attack Egyptian Resort City ‘By Sea’

Unidentified gunmen have commenced an assault on a hotel in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada, in Egypt, injuring at least two foreigners thus far.

The attackers carried out an attack from the Red Sea, a Reuters report said. Egyptian security personnel pushed back the attackers and one of the gunman has been killed, according to Egyptian state-media.

The attack occurred at the Bella Vista Hotel, Ahram Online reports.

It remains unclear where the injured foreign nationals are from. The BBC is reporting they are nationals of Denmark and Germany, while Ahram Online quotes a Health Ministry spokesperson saying they are both Swedish tourists.

Hurghada, a city which was founded in the early 1900s, was previously a fishing village that now promotes itself as a tourist venue known for its watersports and underwater activities.

It is a popular winter destination for Russian and Western European tourists. Due to the influx of Russians (with an unofficially estimated 20,000 Russian nationals living there), the city now has its own Russian school. The city is served by the Hurghada International Airport, which offers direct routes to and from Europe.

Friday’s attack comes just a day after an Islamic State-claimed attack on Israeli tourists in Cairo.

Breitbart Jerusalem reports that the Islamic State jihadis were motivated by “Caliph” Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi’s call to “target Jews everywhere,” according to the IS-linked Amaq News Agency.

“A military cell of soldiers of the caliphate succeeded to reach the bus that carried Jews. Using light weapons, in the street of Al Ahra in Giza, Cairo, the operation killed and injured among the Jews and the security of the hotel nearby. The gunmen who carried out the attack got back to their original locations and let the Jews know that we are getting closer to them every day,” read the report from the terror-linked site, according to a Breitbart Jerusalem translation.

However, there were no reports of actual injuries or deaths among the Israelis at the hotel, and the individuals attacked were Israeli Arabs, and not Israeli Jews.