The three suicide bombers who carried out the deadly July attacks at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh were Bedouin members of an Islamist cell whose chief has been arrested, security sources said on Saturday.
Mahmud Mohammad Hamad, Mohammad Oda Said and Mussa Ghneim were identified through DNA tests and the confessions of 29 suspects who have been arrested as part of the inquiry into the attacks.
Two of the bombers were driving cars loaded with explosive gas cylinders, with one driving his vehicle into a hotel and the other detonating his close to the souk in the old town, the sources said.
The third of the bombers, all of whom were from Al-Arish in northern Egypt, was carrying a bag of explosives that he detonated close to a car park.
About 70 people, including foreigners, were killed in the multiple bombings in the tourist-packed Red Sea resort on July 23.
”Security forces have established that the terror cell has no links with organisations abroad,” a security source said, adding that the ringleader has been arrested but without disclosing his name.
Three groups, including two claiming links to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, have claimed the attacks in statements posted on the internet whose authenticity has not been confirmed.
During searches in Al-Arish and in the city of Ismailiya further south, security forces discovered arms caches and ammunition as well as leaflets calling for jihad (holy war), the sources said.
Interior Minister Habib al-Adly had said earlier this week that investigators were wrapping up the probe into the Sharm el-Sheikh bombings.
Hundreds of people have been rounded up during a massive sweep of the Sinai peninsula by security forces who frequently clashed with Bedouin gunmen believed to have offered their protection to the terror cell. — Sapa-AFP