Luxor, Egypt--A foiled attack on one of Egypt's most popular ancient attractions was raising fears Thursday for tourism and foreign investment as the country tries to recover from years of political and economic chaos.
Bombings and militant attacks have been common since the army ousted president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, targeting security forces in retaliation for the authorities' bloody repression of the Islamist's supporters.
But experts believe jihadists have decided to target the country's Achilles' heel of tourism and investments in order to weaken the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has pledged to fix the battered economy.
On Wednesday, assailants widely believed to be jihadists tried to carry out an attack at the Karnak temple, an ancient complex in the southern city of Luxor.
One of them killed himself by setting off the explosive vest he was wearing, while police killed an accomplice and seriously wounded the other.
Whatever the assailants' intentions, their attempted attack seems to have scared people off.
On Thursday morning, there were more police than tourists in the streets of Luxor, particularly outside the city's many Pharaonic sites.
At around 10:00 am (0800 GMT), by which time dozens of tourist buses would normally be parked around the ancient temple, only seven coaches and three minibuses had arrived, an AFP correspondent said.
About 200 tourists were strolling inside the temple itself, around 50 metres (yards) from the scene of Wednesday's foiled attack, but were far outnumbered by police around the site.
Police said there were about 600 tourists inside the temple when the assailants struck.
"For sure, there are fewer tourists than yesterday. Organised trips coming from the Red sea resort town of Hurghada were cancelled," Salah al-Masekh, director of excavations at Karnak, told AFP.
June is low season for tourism in Upper Egypt, which is usually sweltering in suffocating heat during the summer.
AFP
