At least 17 injured during an attack in Egypt against a tourist bus near the Giza Pyramids

A total of 17 people, including South Africans and Egyptians, were injured in an explosion Sunday by a tourist bus near the famous Egyptian pyramids of Giza (southwest of Cairo).

An explosive device exploded near the road leading to the tourist bus to Giza, near where the new Egyptian Antiquities Museum is located at the foot of the pyramids.

Images of the area of ​​the explosion circulating on social networks showed the damaged vehicle and its remains scattered on the road.

During a similar attack in December, three Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian guide were killed by the explosion of a homemade bomb on their bus near the site of the Giza pyramids.

Sunday 's attack comes a little over a month after the start of the Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt from June 21 to July 20.

The tourism industry, essential for the Egyptian economy, has been heavily affected by political instability and attacks that followed the 2011 uprising, which ended with the fall of the President Hosni Mubarak after 30 years of power.

Of 14.7 million tourists in 2010, they are more than 5.3 million in 2016. But the tourism industry has improved since 2017.

Since the dismissal of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi by the army in 2013, security forces are facing very active extremist groups, including the Islamic State Organization (IS), mainly in the Sinai Peninsula ( northeast).