May backs Egypt against terror
THE Prime Minister has said Britain will help Egypt “in any way possible” following the attack on a mosque which killed more than 300.
Theresa May yesterday offered her condolences to Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi following the atrocity at Bir al-Abd in the Sinai peninsula on Friday.
Downing Street said the leaders agreed international co-operation was needed to tackle terrorism.
A spokesman said: “The Prime Minister offered her personal condolences and the condolences of the British people for the barbaric attack that took place at al-Rawdah mosque in north Sinai yesterday.”
The attack was a “terrible example of the threat Egypt faces” and “they agreed that terrorism was an international problem and that it was important for countries to work closely together and share expertise to counter the growing threat of terrorism around the world”.
The spokesman added: “They welcomed continued bilateral co-operation in this area.”
The massacre was carried out by between 25 and 30 militants who were believed to be carrying Islamic State flags, Egyptian authorities said.
The country’s chief prosecutor, Nabil Sadeq, said the killers arrived at the mosque in five all-terrain vehicles.
Atrocity
They waited outside the main door and 12 windows before opening fire on worshippers attending Friday prayers.
At least 305 people, including 30 children, were murdered, with a further 128 injured in what is Egypt’s worst ever terror attack.
The Egyptian military has responded by launching attacks on targets believed to be linked to the terrorists in the Sinai peninsula.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for Friday’s atrocity. It is believed the mosque was targeted because many of the people attending were followers of the Sufi branch of Islam.
Many Islamist militants, including the regional Islamic State – Sinai Province group, consider Sufism, which has a strong mystical element, to be heretical.
The terror group, formerly known as Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Russian passenger jet in October 2015 which killed 224 people.
The Sinai peninsula, in the east of the North African country, has been a focus of militant Islamism since the Egyptian army deposed pro-Islamist president Mohammed Morsi in 2013.