BICOM

Four people were killed after an Islamist group based in the Sinai Peninsula exploded a bomb on a tourist bus carrying South Korean pilgrims across the Egyptian border into Israel.

The tourists were part of a church group from the South Korean county of Jincheon who were on a 12-day trip through Turkey, Egypt and Israel. They had just visited St Catherine’s monastery in Sinai and had stopped at the Taba border crossing with Israel. The bomb exploded just 50 metres from the border just before the tourists were due to cross into Israel by foot. Three South Korean citizens and the Egyptian bus driver were killed in the blast and around 15 people were wounded.

According to the Jerusalem Post, residents in the adjacent Israeli city of Eilat heard the blast and dozens of Israeli ambulances gathered at the border to transfer the wounded to Joseftal Hospital in Eilat if needed. The IDF’s Southern Command went on high alert after the bombing. Israel Radio reported this morning that al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has taken responsibility for the bombing.

Yesterday’s bombing was another reminder of the security dangers posed by terror attacks from Sinai. Last month, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis said that it fired two rockets on Eilat, an important tourist resort and commercial port. Two Grad rockets were fired at the city in April, while the city’s airport was closed in August as a precaution.

The Sinai Peninsula, which borders both Israel and the Gaza Strip, has been plagued by violence since the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood by Egypt’s military in July. Islamist groups have attacked Egyptian security positions with regularity and the Egyptian army has responded with significant force. However, yesterday’s bombing was the first time that tourists had been targeted in the violence. Egyptian Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou told Reuters, “I hope this will be an isolated incident that will not recur.”