The 1997 Luxor Massacre (Gamma Islamiyah’s Revenge)

The Darkened Hour

After years of Egyptian state repression on it's most fervent Islamist sects such as Gamma Islamiyyah and Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the followers of one notable Gamma Islamiyah leader, Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, saw fit to exact revenge on the Hosni Mubarak led Egyptian government in attacking it's tourism industry. The Luxor massacre was the killing of 62 people, mostly tourists, on 17 November 1997, at Deir el-Bahari, an archaeological site and major tourist attraction across the Nile from Luxor, Egypt. The massacre would end up having a reverberating effects, not just on Egyptian society, but for the world over. As many countries leaders were outraged over the barbaric terrorist attack, which saw mass arrests and torture of those affiliated with the group involved. This however would be a revisitation of what took place during many decades prior, as the Egyptian State Security Investigation Services (SSI) also arrested and torture many of those who were involved with the assassination of Anwar Sadat, the country's president in 1980. Out from the torturous experiences came many of those who were involved in some of the most notable terrorist attacks the world had ever seen, such as the 1993 WTC Bombing and the 1995 Landmarks Plot as well as the Luxor Massacre.