Egyptian forces were hunting yesterday for six Pakistani nationals suspected of involvement in the devastating multiple bombings in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
According to several security sources, Egyptian forces surrounded two villages in the Sinai peninsula where they believed two of the Pakistani suspects were hiding.
Hospital officials say the bombings -- Egypt's deadliest attacks since 1981 -- killed 88 people while the health and tourism ministries have reported up to 64 confirmed dead.
The resort was packed with tourists when the pre-dawn bombs went off and foreign embassy officials were still in Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday, as more than 30 bodies were still to be identified and foreigners continued to scramble for flights home.
Pictures of the six Pakistanis believed to have entered Egypt earlier this month were distributed to police stations in the Sharm el-Sheikh area following the attacks, which followed another bombing spree in Sinai resorts last October.
Their passports were found in an unspecified Sharm el-Sheikh hotel, police said, adding that one of them may have died in the deadly bombings but stressing that the Pakistanis were not necessarily the bombers.
Pictures of more than 30 other suspects were also distributed, mostly Egyptians as well as internationally wanted terror suspects.
At least 130 people have been arrested in a police dragnet as part of a massive search for the perpetrators of the attack on a hotel, a market and a parking lot that came on the heels of deadly bombings in London.
Pakistan has come under increased international pressure to crack down on Islamic militants after it emerged some of the bombers in the July 7 attacks in London, British Muslims of Pakistani descent, had recently visited the country.
Cairo faced harsh criticism from Israel for failing to boost security following last October's bombings in the Sinai resorts of Taba and Nuweiba.
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Tourists leave Egypt in droves
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