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Police foil ISIL terrorist 'massacre' in Egypt's luxor

Human remains being covered by Egyptian security forces lie on the ground at the scene where assailants attempted a bomb attack in the Karnak temple in Luxor, a town 700 kilometers (435 miles) south of Cairo, on June 10, 2015. (AFP)

A Takfiri terrorist “massacre” in one of Egypt’s most popular tourist attractions has been foiled by police in the eastern Luxor province.   

Egyptian police confronted three attackers as they were attempting to enter the famed temple of Karnak, close to the Valley of the Kings, on Wednesday.  

After being stopped by the police, one attacker was killed when he detonated an explosive device, a second was shot dead by police and the third was severely wounded.     

Two police forces and two civilians were also wounded during the incident.

Some 600 people were present in the temple at the time of the incident.

Police said that had they not been able to foil the attack, the carnage would have been far worse than similar recent attacks in Kenya and Tunisia, where a total of almost 170 people were killed.

"If they had managed to enter the temple, it would have been a massacre," said a police general.

Karnak is the second most visited tourist site in Egypt after the pyramids in Giza.

A file photo taken on December 21, 2013 shows tourists visiting the Temple of Karnak in the southern Egyptian city of Luxor. (AFP)

Following the foiled attack, the Egyptian ministry for antiquities issued orders to beef up security around the country’s tourist sites.  

So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but such incidents are usually attributed to regional Takfiri militants who have pledged war against Egypt, and allegiance to ISIL.

Last year, ISIL Takfiri militants carried out an attack on a tourist bus in the Sinai Peninsula, killing three South Koreans and their driver.  

SRK/AS/MHB


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