Attempted pedestrian walk near the Giza pyramids: 17 wounded

A bomb exploded on the pbadage of a means of transport in which were 25 South Africans; It arrived a few meters from the place where there was another attack in December; no group attributed it to him

CAIRO.- An explosive has injured at least 17 people, mostly South African tourists, on the outskirts of Cairo, near the Pyramids of Giza, one of the world's most famous tourist attractions.

Until now, no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which also hit a car in which four Egyptians traveled. Other attacks against tourist interests have been attributed to the Egyptian branch of the so-called Islamic State (IS).

The attack took place just 400 meters from the Grand Egyptian Museum, a new facility that has not yet been inaugurated and which will house the largest collection of archaeological artifacts in ancient Egypt. The Ministry of Antiquities said in a statement that the building had not been hit by the blast.

"The explosion of an object broke the windows of a bus carrying 25 people from South Africa and a car carrying four Egyptians." Some pbadengers of both vehicles were slightly injured by shards of glbad and received medical attention, "he said. a source of security.

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

The attack yesterday comes a little more than a month before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations (CAN), organized in Egypt from June 21 to July 20.

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

From 14.7 million tourists in 2010, it rose to 5.3 million in 2016.

But the tourism industry has improved since 2017, with 8.3 million visitors.

In South Africa, spokesman of the Department of International Relations, Ndivhuwo Mabaya, said that "there could be South Africans affected" by the attack of yesterday, but he did not want to give more details about the possible number of injuries.

"The ambbadador is trying to check with the authorities, we have activated our emergency response mechanism and we have opened an emergency phone line" for families worried about it. where their loved ones are, he added.

Since the dismissal of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi by the army in 2013, security forces have been confronted with very active extremist groups, including the Islamic State (IS) jihadist organization, mainly in the Sinai Peninsula ( northeast).

Despite hundreds of arrests and convictions of people accused of terrorism, attacks continue sporadically in Egypt. They are mainly directed against the security forces, but also against the Copts, a large Christian minority in the country. Human rights NGOs often accuse President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi's regime of resorting to torture and failing to guarantee fair trials for those prosecuted.

AFP and Reuters agencies