Egyptian in Red Sea knife attack ‘supported Daesh’
CAIRO: An Egyptian man who stabbed three foreign tourists to death and wounded three more earlier this month at a Red Sea resort had tried to join Daesh, according to a police investigation, sources said on Sunday.
Officials said Abdel Rahman Shaban Abokorah killed two Germans and a Czech and wounded three other tourists at the popular Red Sea resort of Hurghada on July 14. He was caught by hotel staff and arrested.
Investigators have recommended he face terrorism charges, the sources said. Authorities have so far not commented officially on motives for the attack, and no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The sources confirmed a Facebook page belonging to the attacker contains a series of references to Daesh, with the militant group’s flag displayed prominently in his profile.
Authorities said that after killing the tourists, Abokorah swam to a neighboring beach to attack at least two more people at the Sunny Days El Palacio resort before being caught by staff and arrested.
The Czech woman was among the wounded. She died of her injuries last week.
It was the first major attack on foreign tourists since a similar assault on the same resort more than a year ago. It came as Egypt struggles to revive tourism, which has suffered from security threats and years of upheaval.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s government is battling an insurgency that has killed hundreds of troops and police in Northern Sinai and has attacked other parts of Egypt.