The mark of al Qaida

last updated 8 January 2015

Sinai, Egypt

Al Qaida is suspected in last week’s suicide bombing at the Taba Hilton, an Egyptian resort in the Sinai Peninsula. Red Sea resorts are popular with Israeli tourists, and at least 13 Israelis were among the 34 dead. Egyptian and Israeli analysts said the massive force of the attack—400 kilos of explosives that blew the front off the hotel as people were dining—led them to believe that al Qaida, and not some Palestinian group, was responsible. The goal may have been to punish Egypt for its peace treaty with Israel. Egypt’s tourism industry has already been hurt; the government has temporarily closed the pyramids at Giza and the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.