Evil alert before ISIS’ Egypt attack

LEADERS AND residents in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, where 305 worshipers inside a mosque were slaughtered, had been repeatedly intimidated and threatened by terrorist operatives before the massive attack.

Mohammed Ibrahim, a university student from the town of Bir al-Abed, said ISIS agents had urged residents there to abandon Sufism before the attack Friday. The militants also distributed leaflets several times ordering villagers not to collaborate with government security forces, he told The Associated Press.

Mohammed Darwish, 30, who also lives in the town, said militants raided the residence of village tribal leader Sheikh Hussein al-Jerirr twice this year.

“They threatened him not to hold Sufi gatherings, and last week, they came on motorbikes and asked residents not to participate in Sufi rituals,” Darwish told the AP.

Members of the ISIS affiliate in Sinai believe Sufis are heretics who should be killed and publicly identified the al-Rawda mosque, which also serves as a Sufi center, as a target months ago, according to Ahmed Saqr, an expert on the Sinai insurgency.

The barbaric attack on the mosque included a grenade tossed into the house of worship.

The terrorists — who carried a black banner like those carried by ISIS — shot people inside the mosque point-blank in the heads, according to witnesses. They took up positions at the door and the window before the assault began.

The dead included 27 children, authorities said.

Egypt’s military and security forces have struggled to prevent terrorists from carrying out bloody attacks.

After the massacre, a furious Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah elSissi vowed to use “brute force” in response. “The armed forces and police will forcefully take revenge for our martyred sons and restore security and stability in the short period ahead,” he promised.