Militants in Egypt Hit New Target: S. Korean Tourists

An explosion on a bus carrying South Korean tourists in Egypt yesterday left three South Koreans and the Egyptian driver dead, al Jazeera reports. At least 13 others were wounded in the attack on the bus, whose riders, a South Korean church group, had visited a Greek Orthodox monastery in the Sinai Peninsula, CNN reports. The explosion occurred in Taba, an Egyptian resort town, while the bus was parked some 200 yards away from the border with Israel, the Washington Post reports.

The suicide bombing is the first attack against foreigners in the Sinai in about 10 years, reports AP. The Post sees it as part of Islamist militants' stepped-up efforts against Egypt's government. "This is more of a challenge to the government and the state’s authority than there ever was before," says Kamal Habib of Islamic Jihad, a group that has renounced violence after earlier involvement. Now, Habib says, militants may be targeting the government through attacks on the struggling tourism sector. (More South Korea stories.)