Egyptian security forces have killed 30 suspected terrorists in raids on their hideouts - just a day after a tourist bus bombing.

Three Vietnamese holidaymakers and a local guide died in the blast - just a short distance from the pyramids in Giza.

Another 10 suspected militants were killed in North Sinai, where the country's fighting an insurgency led by Islamic State.</s>Two Vietnamese tourists and a tour guide were killed, and...</s>CAIRO — Egyptian security forces killed at least 40 people suspected of being militants in North Sinai and Giza, officials said on Saturday, a day after an explosion hit a tour bus, leaving four people dead and 10 others wounded.

The Ministry of Interior did not explicitly link the killing of the suspected militants to the attack on the tour bus on Friday, in which an improvised device hidden in a wall less than 2.5 miles from the pyramids at Giza exploded and killed three Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian guide.

The ministry said in a statement that security forces had learned that “a number of terrorists” had “planned a series of attacks that targets state institutions, tourism, armed forces, police, and Christian places of worship.”

The security forces simultaneously raided two sites on the outskirts of Giza on Saturday, killing 30 militants there, as well as another refuge in Arish in North Sinai, killing 10 more in shootouts.</s>Egyptian security forces have killed 40 suspected militants in three separate incidents in North Sinai and Giza, the ministry of interior said on Saturday.

The incident comes a day after a deadly bombing on a Vietnamese tourist bus in Giza killed four people.

The ministry did not say whether the suspected militants were connected to Friday’s attack, but said its forces killed 30 people during raids on their hideouts in Giza where it said “terrorist elements” were planning a series of attacks targeting state institutions and the tourism industry.

Security forces also killed 10 suspected militants in North Sinai, where the country is fighting an insurgency led by Islamic State.

State news agency MENA said that the suspects were killed in a gun battle.

The ministry did not give any details about the suspects’ identity or whether there had been any casualties or injuries among the security forces. The statement said the three raids took place simultaneously.

The ministry published photos of bloodied bodies with their faces concealed and assault rifles and shotguns lying on the floor beside them.

Three Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian guide were killed and at least 10 others injured when a roadside bomb blast hit their tour bus on Friday less than 4 km (2.5 miles) from Egypt’s world-famous Giza pyramids.

Egypt’s military and police launched a major campaign against militant groups in February, targeting the Sinai Peninsula as well as southern areas and the border with Libya.

The government says fighting Islamist militants is a priority as it works to restore stability after the years of turmoil that followed the “Arab Spring” protests of 2011.</s>EGYPTIAN POLICE KILLED 40 suspects in a crackdown today after a roadside bomb hit a tour bus claiming the lives of three Vietnamese holidaymakers and an Egyptian guide.

Thirty alleged “terrorists” were killed in separate raids in Giza governorate, home to Egypt’s famed pyramids and the scene of yesterday’s deadly bombing, while 10 others were killed in North Sinai, the interior ministry said without directly linking them to the attack.

It said authorities had received information the suspects were preparing a spate of attacks “targeting state institutions, particularly economic ones, as well as tourism, armed forces, police and Christian places of worship”.

A security source said the raids took place early this morning, hours after yesterday’s roadside bombing which officials said hit a tour bus in the Al-Haram district near the Giza pyramids killing the three Vietnamese holidaymakers and their Egyptian guide.

Eleven other tourists from Vietnam and an Egyptian bus driver were wounded, the public prosecutor’s office said.

Saigon Tourist, the company that organised the trip, said the tourists were “on their way to a restaurant for dinner” when the bomb exploded.

Company officials were heading to Cairo on Saturday and plans were made to allow some relatives of the victims to also fly to Egypt.

One of them was Nguyen Nguyen Vu whose sister Nguyen Thuy Quynh, 56, died in the bombing, while her husband, Le Duc Minh, was wounded.

Police at the scene of last night's bomb attack. Source: DPA/PA Images

The couple, both aged 56, were in the seafood business, Quynh’s younger brother said.

“We were all very shocked… My sister and her husband travel quite a lot and they are quite experienced in travelling abroad,” Vu told AFP.

He said he was applying for a visa for Egypt and hoped to travel on Saturday. “Our wish is that we could bring my sister back home.”

Vietnam’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang thanked Egyptians who were caring for the survivors. She said in a statement:

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, the first attack to target tourists since 2017.

Last night’s attack was the latest blow to Egypt’s vital tourism industry, which has been reeling from turmoil set off by the 2011 uprising that forced veteran president Hosni Mubarak from power.

While tourism has picked up since 2011, the 8.2 million people who visited Egypt in 2017 are still a far cry from the 14.7 million who visited in the year before the uprising.</s>Egyptian security forces have killed 40 suspected militants in three separate incidents in North Sinai and Giza, the ministry of interior says, a day after a deadly bombing on a Vietnamese tourist bus in Giza killed four people.

The ministry did not say whether the suspected militants were connected to Friday's attack.

But it said its forces killed 30 people during raids on their hideouts in Giza where it said "terrorist elements" were planning a series of attacks targeting state institutions and the tourism industry.

Security forces also killed 10 suspected militants in North Sinai, where the country is fighting an insurgency led by Islamic State.

State news agency MENA said that the suspects were killed in a gun battle.

The ministry did not give any details about the suspects' identity or whether there had been any casualties or injuries among the security forces. The statement said the three raids took place simultaneously.

The ministry published photos of bloodied bodies with their faces concealed and assault rifles and shotguns lying on the floor beside them.

Three Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian guide were killed and at least 10 others injured when a roadside bomb blast hit their tour bus on Friday less than 4km from Egypt's world-famous Giza pyramids.

Egypt's military and police launched a major campaign against militant groups in February, targeting the Sinai Peninsula as well as southern areas and the border with Libya.

The government says fighting Islamist militants is a priority as it works to restore stability after the years of turmoil that followed the "Arab Spring" protests of 2011.</s>Police in Egypt have killed dozens of militants during security raids on their hideouts, the interior ministry has said.

The raids killed “40 terrorists” in Giza and North Sinai on Saturday morning, according to a statement from the ministry.

It said the militants were planning a series of attacks on tourist sites, churches and military personnel.

The raids followed Friday’s roadside bomb attack on a tour bus in Giza.

No group has yet said it was behind the blast, which killed three Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian tour guide, but Islamist militants have targeted tourists in Egypt in the past.

BBC reports that police killed 30 militants during two early morning raids in Giza, while the remaining 10 were killed in El-Arish, the capital of North Sinai province, the interior ministry said.

“A group of terrorists were planning to carry out a series of aggressive attacks targeting state institutions, particularly economic ones, as well as tourism… and Christian places of worship,” the ministry statement said.

It added that police had seized bomb-making materials, ammunition and a large number of weapons during the raids.

Security is already tight in Egypt, with the tourist season at its height and the country’s main Christian minority, the Copts, preparing to celebrate Orthodox Christmas on 7 January.</s>Egyptian security forces killed 40 militants in two operations after four people died in a roadside bomb that struck a tour bus in Greater Cairo on Friday.

The militants were planning attacks against churches, state institutions, economic interests, the armed forces and tourist sites, the Ministry of Interior said in a statement on Saturday. The operations took place in northern Sinai and Giza.

Three Vietnamese nationals and an Egyptian tour guide were killed in the bombing attack on Friday, the state-run Ahram Gate reported, citing a statement from the country’s Public Prosecutor Nabil Sadeq.</s>Forty suspected militants have been killed by Egyptian security forces a day after a deadly roadside bomb hit a tourist bus near the Giza Pyramids.

The suspects were killed in three separate incidents in North Sinai and Giza, the ministry of interior said on Saturday, but did not say if they were connected to Friday's bombing.

State news agency MENA said the suspects were killed in a gun battle.

Friday's attack killed three Vietnamese tourists and their Egyptian guide.

The bus was traveling in the Marioutiyah area near the pyramids when the crude roadside bomb, concealed by a wall, went off. The blast wounded 11 other Vietnamese tourists as well as the Egyptian driver.

Egypt has battled Islamic militants for years in the Sinai Peninsula in an insurgency that has occasionally spilled over to the mainland, hitting minority Christians or tourists. However, this is the first attack to target foreign tourists in almost two years.

The attack took place as Egypt's tourism industry showed signs of recovery after years in the doldrums because of the political turmoil and violence that followed a 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Hosni Mubarak.

Over the past two years, militant attacks against Christians in Egypt, usually targeting churches or buses carrying pilgrims to remote desert monasteries, have killed more than 100 people.</s>Egyptian security forces have killed 40 suspected militants in three separate incidents in North Sinai and Giza, the ministry of interior said on Saturday, a day after a deadly bombing on a tourist bus in Giza killed four people.

The ministry did not say whether the suspected militants were connected to Friday’s attack, but said its forces killed 30 people during raids on their hideouts in Giza where it said “terrorist elements” were planning a series of attacks targeting state institutions and the tourism industry.

Security forces also killed 10 suspected militants in North Sinai, where the country is fighting an insurgency led by Islamic State, also known as Isis.

State news agency Mena said that the suspects were killed in a gun battle.

The ministry did not give any details about the suspects’ identity or whether there had been any casualties or injuries among the security forces. The statement said the three raids took place simultaneously.

The ministry published photos of bloodied bodies with their faces concealed and assault rifles and shotguns lying on the floor beside them.

Three Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian guide were killed and at least 10 others injured when a roadside bomb blast hit their tour bus on Friday less than 4km (2.5 miles) from the world-famous Giza pyramids.

Egypt’s military and police launched a major campaign against militant groups in February, targeting the Sinai Peninsula as well as southern areas and the border with Libya.

The government says fighting Islamist militants is a priority as it works to restore stability after the years of turmoil that followed the “Arab Spring” protests of 2011. – Reuters
In response to a roadside bombing that killed three Vietnamese tourists and an Egyptian tour guide the previous day, Egyptian police kill 40 suspected militants.