Iman Chairman calls for action after Egypt hotel attacks

Image Credit: Reuters

'Egypt attack: Three tourists stabbed at Hurghada hotel'

BBC

Three foreign tourists have been stabbed by two suspected Islamic State militants who stormed into a hotel in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

The attackers, armed with knives, were shot by police at the Bella Vista hotel after they attacked two Austrian guests and a Swede, officials say.

One assailant was killed and the other injured, officials say.

The attackers were aiming to kidnap tourists, officials told the BBC. Reports say they raised the IS flag.

Security forces are still searching for possible further attackers.

Officials earlier reported that both the attackers had been killed.

The BBC's Sally Nabil in Cairo says Hurghada remains on high alert with all roads in and out closed off.

Responding to the news, Iman Chairman Ribal Al-Assad said:

“I am appalled and deeply concerned by reports of yet more violence in Egypt.

“It is clear that Islamic extremism is a rapidly growing threat to people of all faiths throughout Egypt and the broader region.

“Only very recently President Al-Sisi spoke before clerics and religious scholars denouncing the perverted and poisonous ideology that incites and justifies these barbaric acts and expressing his firm desire to combat this scourge.

“The international community must wake up and recognise the scale of this problem, since it poses a threat not only to Middle Eastern countries but also to the peace of the world.

“The West in particular must do much more to help the leaders of Egypt and other responsible governments to tackle Islamic extremism and hold other states supporting this ideological perversion, such as Saudi Arabia, to account.”