Seoul: Too early to know who is behind Egypt's attack

Al-Qaeda-inspired terror group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on a bus carrying South Korean tourists in Egypt, but it is too early to determine who masterminded the bombing, Seoul's official said Tuesday, according to Yonhap News Agency. "Despite the Twitter message, it is too early to determine that they carried out the attack," said a Foreign Ministry official, adding the government "is waiting for the results of the Egyptian authorities' probe into who masterminded the attack and for what reason. It is not clear if the terrorists specifically targeted South Koreans, but Egyptian officials seem to think that the terrorists targeted foreign tourists with the aim of hurting the country's tourism industry, he added. The tour bus carrying 31 South Korean churchgoers and two Korean and one Egyptian guide, was bombed in the Egyptian border town of Taba on the Sinai Peninsula on Sunday, killing three Koreans and the Egyptian driver, and injuring 14 others. With the investigation into the case under way, the Sinai-based terror group named Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis claimed responsibility in a Twitter statement, adding that it will continue to hurt the leaders in Egypt, the economy, the tourism and the gas. The group has already claimed responsibility for a series of terrorist attacks in Egypt, including the assassination of a top Egyptian police general, who was gunned down as he left his home in a west Cairo neighborhood, according to local media. Seoul has not confirmed whether the terror suspect, a man in his 20s believed to have thrown a bomb into the vehicle, is in detention. The Sinai Peninsula has become increasingly lawless since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in 2011. The South Korean tourists were on a 12 day-long three-nation pilgrimage to Turkey, Egypt and Israel, according to officials of Jincheon Jungang Presbyterian Church. It is one of the most frequently visited travel courses by South Korean Christias