An explosion near an open market in downtown Cairo killed at least four people, including a French woman, and wounded 18 others on Thursday afternoon.

Following is a chronology of some of the major terrorist attacks in Egypt in recent years.

Oct. 7, 2004 -- A series of bombings on the Taba Hilton hotel on Egypt's Sinai peninsula killed 34, including more than 10 Israelis, and injured over 100.

Sept. 7, 1999 -- Egyptian security forces were attacked by Islamic militants while searching a hideout in the suburb of Cairo. They killed four militants.

Nov. 17, 1997 -- Gunmen killed 58 foreign tourists and four Egyptians at an ancient temple near the southern city of Luxor. The attack dealt a heavy blow to the country's tourist sector.

Sept. 18, 1997 -- Two gunmen killed nine German tourists and their Egyptian driver outside a museum in downtown Cairo.

April 18, 1996 -- Four Islamic militants shot dead 18 Greek tourists and wounded 17 others outside a hotel in Cairo.

Oct. 23, 1994 -- Militants attacked a bus in southern Egypt, killing a British tourist, injuring three British tourists and the Egyptian driver.

Oct. 14, 1994 -- Egypt's Nobel Prize laureate Naguib Mahfouz was stabbed by an extremist when he was leaving his residence

Sept. 27, 1994 -- Gunmen killed two German tourists and two Egyptians in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada.

Aug. 26, 1994 -- Gunmen killed a 13-year-old Spanish boy, injured three others when firing at a tourist bus in southern Egypt.

March 4, 1994 -- Islamic militants fired at a Nile cruiser in southern Egypt, killing a German woman tourist.

Nov. 25, 1993 -- The motorcade of Egyptian Prime Minister Muhammad Naquib Sedki was attacked while passing by a school. Sedki escaped the attack unscathed, but a school girl was killed and at least 21 injured.

Oct. 26, 1993 -- A gunman killed two Americans and a Frenchman and injured three other foreign tourists.

Feb. 26, 1993 -- A bomb blew up in a coffee shop in downtown Cairo, killing one Swede, a Turk and an Egyptian, wounding 18 others.

1992 -- A British woman tourist was killed in southern Egypt and an Egyptian writer who criticized religious extremists was shot dead by a gunman riding a motorcycle.