At least 88 people were killed and 200 injured when a series of car bombs ripped through the shopping and hotel areas in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik on July 23 in one of the worst recent terrorist attacks. The death toll is expected to rise as the rescue workers continue to dig those still buried deep in the rubble. Most of the victims were Egyptian but at least seven foreigners were killed, including two Britons, two Germans, one Czech tourist and an Italian. Two Islamic groups — Abdullah Azzam Brigades of Al Qaeda in Syria and Egypt — have claimed responsibility for the blasts. A previously unknown group calling itself the Holy Warriors of Egypt has also claimed responsibility. The conflicting claims, however, have not been verified. The attacks rattled the country and the tourists alike, coming on the heels of the London bombings that claimed 56 lives on July 7 and the attacks in the British capital on Thursday, and at a time when violence is on the rise in Iraq. Many found the latest attacks all the more heinous because they took place in a resort that seemed far removed from the conflicts associated with other recent violence. However, in Cairo, analysts said the bombers targeted Sharm el-Sheik because the resort town is one of the country’s main tourist draws and a venue for successive Middle East peace conferences. The explosions would slow down the stream of tourists to Egypt, which peaked at 8 million last year.

President Hosni Mubarak, who is a longstanding US ally, has been under pressure from Islamists and is facing the country’s first-ever contested presidential elections in September. The bombings could very well be in response to the pro-West foreign policy of Egypt. The country has been taking conciliatory policies toward the US and its war allies, from making peace with Israel to sending an ambassador to US-occupied Iraq. Egypt is also one of the largest recipients of the US foreign aid. Whatever the reasons, terrorism has to be condemned in all its forms. As the West further strengthens its war on terror, it would be better that those who are determined to kill the innocent people and punish all those remotely associated with the West should understand that it is futile to believe that violence will get them what they want.