Attackers kill 235 at Egyptian mosque
Armed attackers kill more than 200 people
Driving off-road vehicles and wielding bombs and guns, Islamic militants attacked a crowded mosque in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Friday, killing at least 235 people, the country’s official news agency reported. Another 130 were reported wounded.
The attack occurred during prayers at the al-Rawdah mosque in the town of Bir al-Abd, 25 miles from the regional capital of el-Arish. Militants reportedly fired on worshipers, then stopped people from escaping by blowing up cars and leaving the burning wrecks blocking the roads.
The local Islamic State affiliate, Sinai Province, may be responsible for the attack, the Associated Press reported Friday.
President Donald Trump responded to the attack on Twitter: “Horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshipers in Egypt. The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence! He then called for tighter immigration screening in the U.S. and repeated his demand for a wall along the border with Mexico.
Militants attacked a crowded mosque during a Friday sermon in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, setting off bombs, firing on worshipers and killing at least 235 people in the deadliest attack on Egyptian civilians by Islamic militants, the official MENA news agency reported.
About 130 people were wounded, according to the news agency.
The local Islamic State affiliate — Sinai Province — may be responsible for the gruesome attack, the first on a large mosque since the militants began their terror campaign in 2013, the Associated Press reported.
Militants in four offroad vehicles carried out the attack during prayers at the al-Rawdah mosque in the town of Bir al-Abd, 25 miles from the regional capital of el-Arish.
The militants stopped people from escaping by blowing up cars and leaving the burning wrecks blocking the roads.
President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi condemned the “criminal” and “cowardly” attack and said it “will not go unpunished.” He said the victims’ suffering will only “add to our insistence” to combat terrorism.
The international airport in the capital, Cairo, heightened security after the attack. Al-Sisi’s office announced three days of mourning, MENA reported.
President Trump tweeted, “Horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshipers in Egypt. The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology
that forms the basis of their existence!”
Trump called again for tighter immigration screening in the USA and a wall along the border with Mexico.
Israel sent its condolences to its neighbor after the attack.
Naftali Bennett, the Israeli education minister, said Friday that this is “a time for international unity in the war on terror wherever it presents itself: Russia, Europe, the U.S., Israel and the Arab world — we have all been hurt by terror and must unite in our battle against it.”
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms this barbaric and cowardly act deliberately targeting peaceful and innocent people in their place of worship.” Jean-Claude Juncker European Union
Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Union’s executive arm, offered his “most sincere condolences to the people of Egypt and to President al-Sisi.”
“I condemn in the strongest possible terms this barbaric and cowardly act deliberately targeting peaceful and innocent people in their place of worship. In these dark moments, Egypt can rightly be proud of the heroic and courageous actions of the security and emergency services on the ground,” Juncker said in a statement.
The Egyptian government has battled an Islamist insurgency in the region for years. The fight intensified in 2013 after the army overthrew the divisive Islamist president, Mohammed Morsi.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Supporters of Jerusalem) started operating in the area in 2011 and changed its name to Sinai Province in 2014 after pledging allegiance to the Islamic State, or ISIS.
Hundreds of soldiers, civilians and militants have been killed, although exact numbers are unclear because journalists and independent investigators are banned from the area.