235 killed in Egypt as Isis bombs mosque
A BLOODY bomb and gun attack killed at least 235 worshippers at a mosque in Egypt yesterday.
Militants thought to be affiliated with Isis detonated a bomb in a children’s creche before spraying the crowd with gunfire.
More than 100 people were also injured in the Sinai town of Bir al-Abd – the deadliest attack yet on Egyptian civilians by Islamic extremists.
The mosque is attended by Sufis. Islamic militants, including the local affiliate of Isis, consider Sufis heretics because of their less literal interpretations of the faith.
Worshippers were finishing Friday prayers at the mosque when a bomb exploded in the creche, witnesses said. Some 40 gunmen arrived in off-road vehicles and separated into four groups in positions outside the mosque. They blocked escape routes by blowing up cars and opened fire as worshippers tried to escape.
The gunmen were also reported to have fired on emergency workers rushing to the scene. ‘They were shooting at people as they left the mosque,’ said one witness. ‘They were shooting at the ambulances too.’
Pictures from the scene show rows of bodies inside the mosque. A witness, Ashraf el-Hefny, said many victims were workers at a nearby salt firm who had come for Friday services. ‘Local people brought the wounded to hospital on their own cars and trucks,’ he said.
Egyptian president AbdelFattah el-Sisi declared three days of mourning and convened a high-level meeting of security officials. In an address on TV, he said the attack ‘will not go unpunished’.
He vowed to respond with ‘brutal force’ and later in the day the Egyptian air force attacked targets in mountainous areas around Bir al-Abed where militants are believed to be hiding out.
Donald Trump said: ‘The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence.’
Security forces in Egypt have been battling militants in northern Sinai for years, but previous attacks have targeted security forces and Christians.
‘Shooting at the ambulances’