235 KILLED IN MASSACRE AT THE MOSQUE
Bloodbath as worshippers prayed
TERRORISTS slaughtered at least 235 people at a mosque in Egypt yesterday.
The bomb and gun attack was launched on worshippers during prayers.
The terrorists targeted the al-Rawda mosque in Bir al-Abed, North Sinai province.
Dozens of gunmen arrived in off-road vehicles and bombed the packed mosque before opening fire on worshippers as they fled.
Shooting
The assailants are reported to have set parked vehicles on fire nearby to block off access to the mosque.
One resident said: “They were shooting at people as they left the mosque. They were shooting at ambulances too.” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi promised to respond to “brute force” after talks with security officials.
A terrorist group is yet to claim responsibility for the slaughter, but militants affiliated with Islamic State have been responsible for scores of deadly attacks in the area. They usually target security forces and Christian churches.
Militant Islamists have been waging an insurgency on the Sinai peninsula in recent years.
Attacks were stepped up after Egypt’s military overthrew Islamist President Mohamed Morsi during mass anti-government protests in July 2013.
Hundreds of police, soldiers and civilians have been killed since then, mostly in attacks carried out by the Sinai Province group, which is affiliated to Isis.