Multi-Pronged Attacks
The twin bombings bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State — multi-pronged attacks aimed at inflicting as much damage as possible while minimizing the group’s losses. Suicide bombers were believed to be involved in both assaults, state media reported.
The violence was “a mixed bag” for El-Sisi, said Samuel Tadros, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington.
“On the one hand it reinforces his narrative that Egypt is in war against terrorism, rallying the nation around the flag and so forth,” Tadros said. “At the same time the attacks send a message of incompetence of the security apparatus” in containing the militancy, he said.
If the jihadist group proves able to operate more extensively outside of Sinai, “that would be a very dangerous development,” he added.
The violence against civilians also dealt the president a fresh blow at a time when impatience is mounting with the pace and impact of economic reforms.
Currency Controls
November’s decision to abandon currency controls helped to secure a $12 billion International Monetary Fund loan and attract foreign investors. Yet it has also caused the pound to lose half its value against the dollar, sending prices soaring. Annual core inflation climbed to over 33 percent in February.
The militant threat exploded after the 2013 military-backed popular uprising against Islamist President Mohamed Mursi and the deadly crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood group that followed. The expansion of the attacks outside the confines of Sinai and, according to Egyptian media, a new focus on targeting Christians have only proven the jihadists’ resilience.
A deadly bombing at the Cairo cathedral in December, claimed by Islamic State’s local affiliate, killed at least 25 worshippers. In 2015, the affiliate also claimed responsibility for the downing of a Russian jet near the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, an attack that left 224 dead and dealt the vital tourism industry a blow from which it’s yet to recover.
The latest bombing “won’t be the last terrorist attack, because the state fights terrorism but doesn’t fight terrorism-inspiring ideas, which is the main cause of the problem,” billionaire businessman Naguib Sawiris, one of Egypt’s richest men, wrote on his Twitter account.
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