By Aswat Masriya An Egyptian military court sentenced on Thursday nine people to life in prison and two others to seven years on charges of targeting a touristic site in Upper Egypt’s Luxor in June. The defendants were accused of “joining a terrorist group” established in violation of the law and the constitution, the possession of weapons to “sabotage” public facilities and use of force against public officials. On June 10, three armed men attempted to enter the Karnak Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in the city of Luxor. Security guards in charge of guarding the temple confronted them. The attack involved two foreign “extremists” and one Egyptian. One of the foreign “extremists” blew himself up while the other one reportedly shot at tourists, according to an August statement by the prosecution. Security forces killed the shooter and injured the third Egyptian “extremist,” added the statement. The attack left no tourist casualties. The prosecution’s statement also said that the attack was masterminded by the Sinai-based Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis militant group, which rebranded itself Sinai Province after it pledged allegiance to Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq (ISIS) in…
Eleven Sentenced to Prison in Egypt for Attack on Luxor’s Karnak Temple
December 17, 2015
