The attack on a mosque in Egypt's restive North Sinai Friday was the country's deadliest in recent memory, with the state prosecutor's office saying at least 235 people were killed.
Here is a list of some of the biggest attacks in the country blamed on Islamists since the late 1990s.
- November 1997: 62 people, including 58 tourists, are killed in an attack on Hatshepsut temple in Luxor claimed by Islamist militant group Jamaa Islamiyya.
- October 2004: Israeli tourists are among 34 people killed in three bombings in the Sinai resorts of Taba and Nuweiba. More than 100 people wounded.
- July 2005: About 70 people are killed in three bombings in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Four groups claim the attacks, including one linked to Al-Qaeda.
- February 2014: Three South Korean tourists and their Egyptian driver are killed in a bombing in the Sinai.
- October 2015: A Russian airliner carrying holidaymakers from the south Sinai resort of Sharm El-Sheikh crashes, killing all 224 people on board. The Egyptian branch of the Islamic State group said it downed the aircraft with a bomb.
- Attacks on security forces -
Jihadists have killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in Egypt since the army's ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and an ensuing brutal crackdown on his supporters.
- August 2013: Militants kill at least 25 policemen in the Sinai, the base of many armed Islamist groups.
- October 2014: A suicide car bombing by a suspected jihadist kills 30 soldiers.
- January 2015: 30 people, mostly soldiers, die in coordinated attacks in the North Sinai claimed by Egypt's wing of the Islamic State group.
- Attacks on religious minorities -
Since December 2016, a local affiliate of the Islamic State group has claimed attacks that have killed more than 100 Coptic Christians. The minority makes up about 10 percent of Egypt's 90 million people.
- In December 2016, a suicide bomber strikes at a church in Cairo, killing 29 Copts.
- In April 2017, two suicide bombings of churches kill 45 members of the minority.
- In May 2017, IS claims responsibility for shooting dead at least 29 Copts as they travel to a monastery.
A UK plane had to take evasive action over Egypt in an incident reportedly involving a missile in August.
The Daily Mail says a missile passed a Thomson Airways London to Sharm el-Sheikh flight carrying 189 passengers.
Egyptian officials say the reports are inaccurate and the plane was not at risk. A UK government probe concluded there had not been a "targeted attack".
Meanwhile Britons are continuing to fly home from Sharm el-Sheikh in the wake of last week's Russian plane crash.
The government said it expected about 3,000 people to have come back by the end of Saturday, after UK-bound planes were halted on Wednesday amid fears the passenger plane had been brought down by a bomb.
A spokesman said: "It is important that people stay at their resort until they have confirmation from their airline or tour operator that they are on a flight back to the UK and that they follow their airline's advice on the appropriate arrival time at the airport.
"Any British nationals requiring assistance, over and above that being provided by their airline and tour operators, can call the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on 020 7008 0000."
Two flights to the UK from Egypt on Saturday have now departed, with more expected later.
A Thomas Cook flight left Sharm el-Sheikh shortly before 15:00 GMT with 220 passengers on board bound for Gatwick. A Thomson flight is expected at Bristol at 22:20 GMT.
'Full story'
The government has confirmed an investigation into the reported missile incident was carried out by the Department for Transport.
Aviation security experts told BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner it had involved artillery practice by the Egyptian army. Returning passengers' stories Could IS have bombed Flight 9268? How has airport security changed? Charlie Hebdo in crash cartoon row
According to the Daily Mail, the plane was forced to manoeuvre away from a rocket as it flew into Sharm el-Sheikh.
Thomson has confirmed "an event" was reported by the crew of flight TOM 476 on 23 August 2015 and was reported to the UK Department for Transport. Image copyrightEPAImage caption Wreckage of Russian MetroJet Airbus A321 at the site of the crash in Sinai, Egypt A spokesman said: "The DfT conducted a full investigation in conjunction with other UK government experts. After reviewing the details of the case, the investigation concluded that there was no cause for concern and it was safe to continue our flying programme to Sharm-el Sheikh."
Speaking on the BBC's Today programme aviation expert Alastair Rosenschein described the incident as "quite extraordinary".
He said: "I'm not sure that I buy the fact that it was a military exercise and that a missile passed to within a 1,000ft of an aircraft that was presumably on the correct flight path on the approach to land at Sharm el-Sheikh. It most certainly does not happen. I suspect that this is not the full story."
Egypt's foreign ministry said the allegations were "preposterous" and "completely inaccurate".
A spokesman said the incident involved ground-to-ground firing at a military base a few miles from Sharm-el Sheikh airport, and that no plane was in danger. Image copyrightAPImage caption UK passengers who arrived on an EasyJet flight into Luton airport on Friday were handed bags of provisions, including bread and milk An estimated 19,000 British nationals are thought to be stranded in the Egyptian resort after the the UK suspended all flights between the UK and Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday.
Flights restarted on Friday with increased security measures but only eight of the 29 scheduled flights were able to depart. The remaining 21 were cancelled by the Egyptian authorities because of the build up of passengers and luggage.
The UK's ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, told the BBC: "We have got good co-operation now which will allow us to get people home as soon as possible. Let us remember this has always been about making sure that when people go home they go home safely."
Britons are being allowed to travel home only with hand baggage; hold luggage is to be flown back separately.
EasyJet, Monarch, Thomson, Thomas Cook and British Airways have scheduled UK-bound flights from the resort from mid-afternoon local time on Saturday.
British nationals in Sharm el-Sheikh are encouraged to check with their airline or tour operator on their travel plans.
Scheduled flights for Saturday afternoon are:
Thomas Cook has two flights planned today: MT162P/7 departing at 1330 (local time), arriving in Gatwick at 1730 GMT; MT270P/2625 departing at 1800 (local time) arriving in Manchester at 2145 (local time)
Thomson has two flights scheduled: TOM 895 departing at 1500 (local time), arriving Manchester at 1900 (local time); TOM 717 departing at 1530 (local time) arriving Bristol at 1920 (local time)
Egypt is restricting the number of rescue flights for Britons stranded in Sharm el-Sheikh, Easyjet has said.
It said seven of its planes were not being allowed to land at the airport, but the first of two flights had left.
Six flights from other airlines are scheduled to depart for the UK later.
Holidaymakers were left stuck after the UK government cancelled flights to and from Sharm el-Sheikh on Wednesday amid fears a Russian passenger plane was brought down by a terrorist bomb.
The first Easyjet flight left shortly before 13:00 GMT for Gatwick, with the second, for Luton, due to leave shortly.
About 20 UK-bound flights had been expected to take off. Monarch, Thomson, Thomas Cook and British Airways are also due to take some of the estimated 19,000 British nationals on holiday in Sharm el-Sheikh home.
Monarch said five of its planes are currently in the air on the way to pick up Britons as scheduled, while BA said it did not expect its aircraft to be refused landing permission in Egypt.
The Department for Transport said it was urgently working with the Egyptian authorities to try to ensure planned flights leave.
"Travellers should keep in contact with their tour operators and shouldn't leave for the airport until they have a confirmed flight."
Outbound flights from the UK to Sharm el-Sheikh remain suspended and the Foreign Office continues to advise against all but essential travel by air to or from Sharm el-Sheikh airport.
But Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin had told the BBC it had been hoped that the "vast majority" of British tourists who "should have come back Wednesday, Thursday and Friday... will be back by tonight".
In a statement on its website, Easyjet said it would take 339 passengers back to the UK later but would cover the costs of additional accommodation and reasonable expenses for anyone affected by the disruption.
It added: "We are working with the UK government at the highest level on a solution. In the meantime we are also developing a contingency plan so we can bring our customers home as early as possible, once we get permission to fly.
"We understand this is extremely frustrating, but we are asking customers to stay in their hotels and if they are currently planned to be checked out in the next 48 hours, to try and extend their stay for an additional two days."
Hand baggage only
The Metrojet Airbus A321 aircraft was flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg last Saturday when it crashed in the Sinai desert, killing all 224 people on board.
Media captionPatrick McLoughlin: "In excess of 20 flights" will bring British holidaymakers back from Egypt on Friday
The government says it received a crucial new piece of intelligence on Wednesday, which the BBC understands was based on intercepted communications between militants in the Sinai.
British security officials who had assessed the airport and ordered additional security measures for passengers.
Image copyrightWael Hussein/BBCImage captionBritish passengers have been arriving at Sharm el-Sheikh airport for their flights homeImage copyrightWael Hussein/BBCImage captionQueues started building up in the terminal as more passengers arrivedImage copyrightReuters
Only hand luggage will be allowed on flights, with hold baggage being transported later by the government.
Mr McLoughlin said UK security officials were at the airport monitoring the baggage screening process.
He said reports the luggage would be transported back to the UK by the RAF was incorrect but the government was making arrangements to ensure it would be returned to passengers in a week to 10 days.
Analysis by Jonathan Marcus, diplomatic correspondent
The speed with which the British government pointed to terrorism as the possible cause of the downing of the Russian Airbus over the Sinai Peninsula has not gone down well in either Cairo or Moscow.
For the Egyptians the stakes are obvious: Sharm el-Sheikh and the wider tourism industry are a crucial element of its economy.
This episode has punctured the long-held Egyptian narrative that Sharm el-Sheikh; its airport and resort hotels are insulated from the wider chaos in the Sinai.
For the Russians, an attack linked to so-called Islamic State is also problematic.
IS is the declared target of its air operations in Syria, but in reality Russian warplanes have largely been striking other rebel groups. IS may now find itself in Russia's sights.
But if IS did bring down the airliner this could exacerbate concerns amongst Russian public opinion that their country's engagement in Syria is provoking some unpleasant blow-back.
Image copyrightWael Hussein/BBCImage captionQueues started building up in the terminal as more passengers arrived
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