(CNN) – Egypt says a recently built 36-kilometer concrete and wire barrier around Sharm el-Sheikh will help protect tourism at the Red Sea resort on the southern tip of the peninsula. Sinai.
Authorities in southern Sinai are hoping to revive tourism, which was rejected by upheaval after the 2011 Egyptian uprising, the 2015 Russian passenger jet crash in Sinai and a plague pandemic coronavirus. In 2005, bombs in Sharm el-Sheikh killed dozens in one of the deadliest military attacks in Egypt.
The security barrier is made of concrete slabs with layers of wire fences separating the resort from the surrounding desert. Some of the slabs are marked with black peace symbols.
Those entering the city on the road have to go through one of four gates with cameras and scanners.
Police guard at the mouth of Ruwaysat of the security cement barrier built around the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt on February 6, 2021.
Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters
Sharm el-Sheikh is about 360 km (224 miles) south of the north coast of Sinai, the Mediterranean Sea, where a crisis with Islamic troops has gathered.
“The distance between them is enormous, in addition there is great security with the Second Egyptian Army consolidating the North Sinai, and the Third Army gaining the South Sinai,” said the Governor of South Sinai. Khaled Fouda told reporters on a tour of the area at the weekend.
“They will be inspected, security cameras will identify them, vehicles will go through a scan, until they reach the city, when they reach a full inspection.”
A museum containing ancient Egyptian artefacts in Sharm el-Sheikh opened last year amid efforts to diversify tourism activity at the seaside resort. A university named after King Salman of Saudi Arabia has also opened in the city.
Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Sharm el-Sheikh often held international summits attended by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.