Egyptian Military Fired on Tourists During Picnic, Witnesses Say - The New York Times - 2 views
www.nytimes.com/...egypt-mexican-tourists.html
Egypt idiocy tourism military terrorism economy authoritarianism
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The group had “no information that this region is banned, no warning signs, and no instructions from checkpoints on the road, or the Tourism & Antiquities policeman present with them,” Hassan el-Nahla, the chairman of the General Union of Tourist Guides, said in a statement.“Egypt will pay the price of the impact of this incident on the tourism industry,” he said.
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Although the helicopter that conducted the attack was military, a spokesman for the Egyptian armed forces sought to deflect responsibility, saying “when it comes to tourists, it is a Ministry of Interior issue, not ours.”
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“This incident has nothing to do with the army even if the army and police carried out the operation together,” the spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Samir, said. “This is the system of this country, and you don’t have the right to question it.”
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Residents of the North Sinai say that the security forces’ reliance on air power and shoot-first tactics often lead to many civilian deaths. The Egyptian government, however, has acknowledged virtually no collateral civilian casualties. Instead, the government routinely releases only the numbers of “militants” it has killed. None of the assertions can be confirmed because the government bars independent journalists from entering the area.