Terrorism in Egypt in the 20th and 21st centuries has targeted the Egyptian government officials, Egyptian police and Egyptian army members, tourists, Sufi Mosques and the Christian minority. Many attacks have been linked to Islamic extremism, and terrorism increased in the 1990s when the Islamist movement al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya targeted high-level political leaders and killed hundreds – including civilians – in its pursuit of implementing traditional Sharia law in Egypt.
Ayman al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor and leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad group, was believed to be behind the operations of al-Qaeda.
Muslim Brotherhood (1940s–50s)
In 1943, the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group—a very large and active organization at that time—was thought to have established "a 'secret apparatus'" i.e. "a separate organization for paramilitary activity under the direct authority" the Brotherhood's head, Sheikh Hassan al-Banna." In 1948, the group is thought to have assassinated appellate judge Ahmad El Khazindar in retaliation for his passing a "severe sentence" against another member of the Brotherhood.
After the 1948 victory of Israel over the Arab coalition, the group is believed to have set fire to homes of Jews in Cairo in June 1948 in retaliation. In July, two large department stores in Cairo owned by Jews were also burned. A couple of months later police captured documents and plans of the 'secret apparatus. 32 of its leaders were arrested and its offices were raided, and shortly thereafter Prime Minister Mahmoud El Nokrashy Pasha ordered the dissolution of the Brotherhood.
On 28 December 1948, Prime Minister Mahmoud El Nokrashy Pasha was shot and assassinated by Abdel Meguid Ahmed Hassan, a veterinary student and member of the Brotherhood. The country was shocked and traditionalist clergy condemned the act. The Grand Mufti, Imam of Azhar mosque and the Council of Ulema all condemned the perpetrators as kuffar.
Less than two months later the head of the Brotherhood, Hasan al-Banna, was himself victim of an assassination, the perpetrators thought to be supporters of the murdered premier.
After a nationalist military coup led by Gamal Abdel Nasser overthrew the Egyptian monarchy, the Brotherhood was very disappointed to find the officers were secular in orientation and the Brotherhood did not gain influence. On 26 October 1954, a member of the brotherhood attempted to assassinate President Nasser and a general suppression of the Brotherhood followed, including imprisonment of thousands of members and the execution of six of its most prominent leaders.
Lavon affair (1954)
A covert operation under the direction of Israeli military intelligence attempted to destabilize the Nasser government in the summer of 1954 through terrorist bombings of Egyptian, American and British government facilities. The operation was unsuccessful and the Israeli-trained Egyptian Jewish operatives who planted the bombs were all captured, although all of their Israeli handlers escaped. The Lavon Affair, so named because Israeli Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon was later implicated and forced to resign, was a false flag operation with evidence planted at the bomb sites implicating the Muslim Brotherhood. The State Security was responsible for the interrogation of the Jewish suspects and managed to gather important information by torture.
Influence of Sayyid Qutb (1980s–2000s)
In the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, terrorist attacks in Egypt became more numerous and severe, and began to target Christian Copts and foreign tourists as well as government officials. This trend surprised some foreigners who thought of Egypt as a country that "embraced" foreigners "with suffocating affection" and preferred a "tolerant brand of Islam". Some scholars and authors have credited Islamist writer Sayyid Qutb as the inspiration for the new wave of attacks.
Qutb was author of Ma'alim fi al-Tariq (Milestones), a manifesto for a jihad of "physical force" to eliminate "the kingdom of man", and bring about "the kingdom of God on earth". According to his theory, sometimes referred to as Qutbism, Islam was not just in need of revival but had actually ceased to exist. "The Muslim community has been extinct for a few centuries, having fallen back into a state of pagan ignorance" known as jahiliyyah because of the failure of the world Muslim community to obey Shariah law. To rectify the situation, "the organizations and authorities of the jahili system" would have to be abolished by "physical power and Jihad", by a "vanguard" movement of true Muslims, distinct from that Jahili society. Qutb emphasized the all-encompassing irredeemable awfulness of jahili society, the wickedness and cruelty of those opposed to the movement of true Muslims, and the utter worthlessness of Western civilization. His book has been called "one of the most influential works in Arabic of the last half century". It became a best seller, went through many editions and strongly influenced Islamists in prison in Egypt. Qutb, who had been executed in 1967 after another purported plot to assassinate of Abdel Nasser, became a shahid to his supporters.
Military Technical College attack (1974)
On 18 April 1974, 100 members of the Islamic Liberation Organization (or Shabab Muhammad Group) stormed the armory of the Military Technical College in Cairo, seizing weapons and vehicles. Led by Salih Sirriya they hoped to kill President Anwar El Sadat and other top Egyptian officials – who were attending an official event nearby in the Arab Socialist Building – seize radio and television buildings (also nearby) and announce the birth of an Islamic State under the leadership of Hizb ut-Tahrir. 11 were killed and 27 wounded in the attempt as security forces were able to intercept conspirators before they left the academy. 95 ILO members are arrested and tried. 32 were convicted. Two were executed.
Takfir wal-Hijra (1977)
On 3 July 1977, a group known to the public as Takfir wal-Hijra (excommunication and exile), kidnapped former Egyptian government minister Muhammad al-Dhahabi. The group was led by a self-taught Islamic preacher Shukri Mustafa, and called themselves Jama'at al-Muslimin. Among their demands in exchange for al-Dhahabi's release were the release of 60 of Takfir wal-Hijra members from jail, public apologies from the press for negative stories about the group, the publication of a book by Mustafa, and 200,000 Egyptian pounds in cash. Instead of complying, the press publicized "a long list of offenses and crimes attributed to the group." Four days after the kidnapping, al-Dhahabi's body was found. The murder provoked indignation among the Egyptian public and extensive police raids led to the arrests of 410 of the group's members.
Salvation from Hell (1980s)
Salvation from Hell sought to establish an Islamic state using force. The Egyptian government broke off ties with Iran following allegations that Iran funded the group. Yasser Borhamy was detained for a month in 1987 due to his alleged connection with the assassination attempt against interior minister Hassan Abu Basha. The group was also responsible for an assassination attempt on former interior minister Nabawi Ismail.
Tanzim al-Jihad movement (1981)
Targeting Christians
In spring of 1981, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman agreed to become the mufti of the shura (council) of underground Egyptian group Tanzim al-Jihad, the forerunner of Egyptian Islamic Jihad and al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya. He issued a fatwa sanctioning "the robbery and killing of Copts in furtherance of the jihad".
Sadat assassination and uprising
By 1981 President Anwar Sadat had become unpopular among some Egyptians and enraged Islamists by signing of a peace treaty with Israel. On 6 October 1981, Sadat and six diplomats were assassinated while observing a military parade commemorating the eighth anniversary of the October 1973 War. Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Islambouli and two other members of the Tanzim al-Jihad movement fired machine guns and threw grenades into the reviewing stand.
In conjunction with the assassination of Sadat, Tanzim al-Jihad began an insurrection in Asyut in Upper Egypt. Rebels took control of the city for a few days on 8 October 1981 before paratroopers from Cairo restored government control. 68 policemen and soldiers were killed in the fighting, but sentences of arrested militants were relatively light, with most of them serving only three years in prison.
Attacks on Israelis (1985–2024)
The Ras Burqa massacre was a shooting attack in October 1985 on Israeli vacationers in Ras Burqa, a beach resort area in the Sinai peninsula, in which seven Israelis were killed, including four children. Egypt refused to allow the victims to be treated by Israeli doctors or transferred to hospitals in Israel.
On 4 February 1990, a bus carrying tourists in Egypt was attacked by members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Eleven people were killed, including nine Israelis, and 17 wounded (sixteen of whom were Israelis). This was the fourth attack on Israeli tourists in Egypt since the signing of the peace treaty.
In November 1990, an Egyptian border guard crossed the border into Israel and opened fire with his AK-47 on vehicles on the Eilat-Kadesh Barnea road killing four people.
Twelve of the people killed in the 2004 Sinai bombings were Israeli.
The Sinai bus crash in August 2006, in which 11 Arab Israelis were killed, may have been premeditated. Families of the victims allege that evidence collected, including the driver's derogatory and threatening remarks attacking them for being Arabs and Israeli, indicate they were targeted by a cell.
On 3 June 2023 an Egyptian police officer killed 3 Israelis soldiers in border shootings.
On 8 October 2023 an Egyptian police officer murdered 2 Israeli tourists and an Egyptian tourist guide in Alexandria,
On 8 May 2024 a group calling themselves "Vanguards of Liberation - the Martyr Mohammad Salah group"
claimed to have killed an Israeli CEO of food export company O.K group in Alexandria describing him as an Israeli agent and saying that his killing was in retaliation for the massacres in Gaza.
Attacks during the 1990s
The violent Islamic insurgency during the 1990s targeted police and government officials but also civilians including tourists. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya was the primary perpetrator of the attacks, but Egyptian Islamic Jihad also was involved.
Rifaat el-Mahgoub assassination
In October 1990, Egyptian Islamic Jihad attempted to assassinate Egyptian Interior Minister Abdel Halim Moussa, but ended up killing parliamentary Speaker Rifaat el-Mahgoub.
Daylight ambushes
1993 was a particularly severe year for terrorist attacks in Egypt. 1106 persons were killed or wounded. More police (120) than terrorists (111) were killed that year and "several senior police officials and their bodyguards were shot dead in daylight ambushes."
Cairo attacks
On 18 April 1996, gunmen opened fire on Greek tourists who were about to board a bus outside Cairo's Europa Hotel, near the pyramids. Seventeen Greeks and an Egyptian were killed, and 15 Greeks and an Egyptian were also wounded.
On 18 September 1997, gunmen attacked tourist buses parked outside the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, killing nine tourists, including seven Germans, and wounding 19.
Luxor massacre
The Luxor Massacre took place on 17 November 1997, at Deir el-Bahri, an archaeological site and tourist destination located across the River Nile from Luxor, Egypt. In the mid-morning attack, Islamic terrorists from Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya ("The Islamic Group") and Talaa'al al-Fateh (Vanguards of Conquest), both of which are suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda, massacred 58 tourists at the attraction. The six assailants, armed with automatic firearms and knives, were disguised as members of the security forces. They descended on the Temple of Hatshepsut at around 08:45 and massacred 62 people, their modus operandi including beheadings and disembowellings. The attackers then hijacked a bus, but armed Egyptian tourist police and military forces arrived soon afterwards and engaged in a gun battle with the six terrorists, who were later killed or committed suicide.