Bahariya oasis in Egypt's vast Western Desert is the tourist magnet where at least two Mexicans mistaken for jihadists were part of a group of 12 people killed by security forces.

It covers almost two-thirds of Egypt's entire territory, stretching from the Nile to the Libyan border to the west and down to the border with Sudan in the south.

Bahariya's hotels, clustered in a region more than 300 kilometres (180 miles) southwest of Cairo, are a big draw for tourists eager to explore its white desert dunes and black quartz hills.

But Sunday's killing of 12 people in Bahariya as security forces chased jihadists underlined the dangers of adventure tourism in a country at war with Islamist militants.

Western embassies have issued travel advisories against excursions to Bahariya, especially after the Islamic State jihadist group said in August that it had beheaded a young Croat seized not far from Cairo on the route to the Western Desert.

US citizens have been advised not to venture out of urban zones in Cairo and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria or the confines of the tourist complexes mainly in the south of country.

The Bahariya oasis, spread over 2,000 square kilometres (770 sq miles) and home to about 10 hotels circled by the black hills, prides itself on pharaonic monuments dating back to the New Kingdom, between 1550 and 1000 BC.

Among the attractions is the Temple of Alexander the Great and painted Ptolemaic tombs, while the recent discovery of golden mummies have also enhanced its status in a country rich in archaeological treasures.
Source: AFP