Terrorists kill 235 in gun, bomb hit on mosque in Egypt’s Sinai

Militants kill at least 235 worshippers in Egypt’s Sinai

Armed attackers on Friday killed at least 235 worshippers in a bomb and gun assault on a packed mosque in Egypt’s restive North Sinai province, in the country’s deadliest attack in recent memory.

A bomb explosion ripped through the Rawda mosque frequented by Sufis roughly 40 kilometres west of the North Sinai capital of El- Arish before gunmen opened fire on those gathered for weekly Friday prayers, officials said.

Witnesses said the assailants had surrounded the mosque with allterrain vehicles then planted a bomb outside.

The gunmen then mowed down the panicked worshippers as they attempted to flee and used the congregants’ vehicles they had set alight to block routes to the mosque.

The state prosecutor’s office said in a statement that 235 people were killed and 109 wounded in the attack, the scale of which is unprecedented in a four- year insurgency by Islamist extremist groups.

US President Donald Trump condemned on Twitter the “horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenceless worshippers.”

A furious Egyptian President Abdel Fattah alSisi declared three days of mourning and pledged to “respond with brutal force” to the attack.

“The Army and police will avenge our martyrs and return security and stability with force in the coming short period,” he added in a televised speech.

The Army and police will avenge our martyrs and return security and stability with force in the coming short period — Abdel Fattah al- Sisi, Egyptian Prez

An angry Egyptian President Abdel Fattah alSisi pledged to respond with “brutal force” against militants who massacred at least 235 people at a mosque during weekly prayers on Friday.

“The army and police will avenge our martyrs and return security and stability with force in the coming short period,” he also said in a televised speech.

Militants struck a mosque during Friday prayers in Egypt’s restive North Sinai region, in the deadliest terror attack in the country.

The militants launched a targeted bomb and gun attack on the al- Rowda mosque in Al- Arish city during the Friday prayers, the state- run MENA news agency reported.

After the bomb ripped through the mosque, the gunmen on four off- road vehicles opened fire on the worshippers who tried to escape from the site after the explosion, it said.

About 50 ambulances were rushed to the attack site to shift the injured to hospitals.

No group has responsibility attack so far.

The Egypt government has announced three days of mourning, even as President Abdel Fattah elSisi chaired an emergency meeting with officials to review security situation after the deadly attack.

Egypt’s North Sinai region has witnessed many violent attacks by militants since the January 2011 revolution that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak.

The attacks targeting police and military increased after the ouster of Islamist ex- president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 by military following massive protests against his rule.

Over 700 security personnel have been reported killed since then.

The military has launched security campaigns in the area, arrested suspects and demolished houses that belonged to terrorists, including those facilitating tunnels leading to the Gaza Strip.

Egypt has witnessed a series of terror attacks this year claiming scores of lives.