| 2006 Dahab bombings | |
|---|---|
| Part ofTerrorism in Egypt | |
| Location |  Dahab,Egypt |
| Date | 24 April 2006; 18 years ago (2006-04-24) 7:15 pm (UTC+3) |
| Target | Resort, Nelson Restaurant, Aladdin Café and Ghazala Market |
| Deaths | 23 |
| Injured | ≈80 |
| Perpetrators |  Tawhid al-Jihad |
TheDahab bombings of 24 April 2006 were three bomb attacks on theEgyptianresort city ofDahab, in theSinai Peninsula. The resort town is popular with Western tourists andEgyptians alike during the holiday season.
At about 19:15Egypt summer time on 24 April 2006 — a public holiday in celebration ofSham el Nessim (Spring festival) — a series of bombs exploded in tourist areas of Dahab, a resort located on theGulf of Aqaba coast of the Sinai Peninsula. One blast occurred in or near the Nelson restaurant, one near the Aladdin café (both being on both sides of the bridge), and one near the Ghazala market.
These explosions followed other bombings elsewhere in the Sinai Peninsula in previous years: inSharm el-Sheikh on 23 July 2005 and inTaba on 6 October 2004.
| Country | Number |
|---|---|
| Egypt | 18 |
 Germany | 1 |
 Lebanon | 1 |
 Russia | 1 |
 Switzerland | 1 |
 Hungary | 2 |
| Total | 24 |
At least 24 people were killed, mostly Egyptians, but including aGerman,Lebanese,Russian,Swiss, and 2Hungarians.[1] Around 80 people were injured, including tourists fromAustralia,Denmark,France,Germany,Israel,Lebanon,Palestine,South Korea,United Kingdom and theUnited States.[2]
The governor ofSouth Sinai reported that the blasts might have been suicide attacks, but laterHabib Adly, the interior minister of Egypt said that the devices werenail bombs set off by timers, and Egyptian TV also reported that the bombs were detonated remotely. Later reports suggested that the blasts may indeed have been suicide attacks, set off byBedouins, as in earlier attacks in the Sinai.[3] According to a report by theInternational Crisis Group, the Dahab bombings appear to have been targeted at the Mubarak government and stem in part from a "deep resentment" of the local people of the northern Sinai over discrimination in "jobs and housing" by governmental programs.[4]
Egyptian security officials have attributed the attacks to anIslamic terror organisation calledJama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad.[5]
Local knowledge suggests that the attacks were in response to the Government's crack down on the opium trade, which subseuntly destroyed the income and livelyhoods of the northern bedouins.
The government has not sought to integrate Sinai's populations into the nation through a far-sighted program responding to their needs and mobilising their active involvement. Instead, it has promoted the settlement of Nile Valley migrants, whom it has systematically favoured, while discriminating against the local populations in jobs and housing in the north and in the rapid development of tourist enclaves (for Egyptians as well as internationals) in the south. These developments have offered scant opportunities to locals and often have been at their expense (notably with regard to land rights), provoking deep resentment.
