SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt – Security forces hunted through rugged desert mountains yesterday for militants suspected in the devastating bombings in this Red Sea resort, and police searched for five Pakistanis in their investigation into Egypt’s deadliest terror attack.

DNA tests were being run on two bodies that are possibly those of bombers, one believed to be Egyptian, the other a foreigner, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the inquiry.

Investigators were trying to determine who carried out the string of blasts that struck a luxury hotel and two other locations within a 15-minute period before dawn Saturday. As many as 88 people were killed, including an American woman.

The government fired the heads of security in North and South Sinai provinces – a sign of the failures that may have allowed the assault on one of Egypt’s most closely guarded towns. Sharm is an engine of the country’s vital tourism industry, a winter home of the president, and the venue for many Israeli-Palestinian Arab summits.

Police launched their desert sweep in two areas, Rouessat and Khorum, some 25 miles from Sharm, after getting a tip that suspects may have fled there, security officials said. They also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the probe.

Officials said Sunday that four bombers were believed to have been involved and that three may have escaped, but yesterday they suggested that more attackers may have been killed and the total number involved was unclear.

Police at checkpoints around the resort circulated photographs of the five Pakistanis, apparently among a group of nine who came to Sharm el-Sheik from Cairo on July 5, at least two investigators said.

They were identified as Mohammed Anwar, 30; Rashid Ali, 26; Mohammed Aref, 26; Musaddeq Hussein, 18; and Mohammed Akhtar, 30. Posters bearing their pictures and passport numbers were put up around Cairo.

Officials did not say the men were known to be connected to the bombings. One senior official said the men had overstayed their visas and that the search for them was part of a wider crackdown on illegal activity in the wake of the blasts.

Involvement of Pakistanis in Saturday’s attack would imply an international hand behind them, possibly Al Qaeda.

British authorities have been seeking several Pakistanis in connection to this month’s deadly bombings in London, and Washington has raised the possibility that both the London and Sharm attacks were planned by Osama bin Laden’s terror network.

Hospital officials said at least 88 people were killed and about 119 wounded, but the Health Ministry put the death toll at 64.

South Sinai’s governor, Mustafa Afifi, said yesterday that 17 of the dead were non-Egyptians, including Westerners and citizens from other Arab states.

Those killed included American Kristina Miller and her British boyfriend, Kerry Davies, who were celebrating her 27th birthday when the bombs went off.

Investigators in Sharm were also pursuing a possible connection to bombings in October in two resorts further north, Taba and Ras Shitan, that killed 34 people, including many Israelis. DNA from the suspected bombers’ remains were being compared to samples from the parents of five suspects still at large from the Taba blasts.

The Sharm bombings had hallmarks of other Al Qaeda-style operations – near-simultaneous bombings using a mix of techniques, including vehicle borne and other bombs.

Two groups claimed responsibility for the attacks. One of the groups warned in an Internet statement yesterday of a “total war” unless “Jews and Christians leave our country within 60 days.” The statement was signed by the Holy Warriors of Egypt.

A conflicting claim was issued Saturday by an Al Qaeda-linked group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, which also claimed responsibility for last October’s bombings. None of the statements’ authenticity could be confirmed.