The tragic events Wednesday in the northern Sinai will have reverberations through the Egyptian economy, an official warned Thursday, adding that the country couldn't afford any additional blows to the vital tourism sector.
On Wednesday, more than a 100 people were left dead after militants attacked multiple checkpoints and clashes broke out in between the army and the attackers. The attacks come just two days after the public prosecutor, Hisham Barakat, was assassinated in Heliopolis.
"The bombings and the terror attack that happened yesterday had a primary objective, which is to show the world that Egypt is a politically unstable country and is unsafe and therefore, yesterday's events will prove to be a hard blow that will directly hit foreign investment and the tourism sector as a whole" Undersecretary of Tourism Ahmed Shoukry said, according to Akhbarak.
Shoukry predicted that foreign countries would issue official travel warnings due to the new attacks. He said that if that occurred, neither the ministry or the tourism sector would be able to do anything to avert the advisories.
He said that the acts of terrorism were an attempt to "destabilize the country" and would cause tourism to deteriorate rapidly and dramatically, leaving 93 million people in a harsher, perhaps indefinite, economical plunge.
The continued violence is a severe test to President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's attempt to restore stability and right the economy after he led a coup against President Mohammed Morsi in 2013.
The army has pledged a renewed focus on security after the attacks.
"We have the will and determination to root out this black terrorism," the military said in a statement . "We will not stop until Sinai is cleansed of all the dens of terror."