Egypt: 305 killed in attack on mosque
Some 130 have been wounded after a group of men bombed the building and shot against woshippers. It is the worst attack in the history of modern Egypt.
Agencies · CAIRO · 24 NOVEMBER 2017 · 14:28 CET
Terrorists have attacked a mosque in North Sinai where Muslim worshippers had gathered for the weekly Friday midday prayers.
According to Mena state news agency, at least 305 people (27 children) have been killed. Some 130 people were wounded in the attack.
Suspected Islamist militants set off a bomb and opened fire against the Al Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed, west of Arish city.
Local media reports said that the authors attacked while the sermon was under way. According to the BBC, followers of Sufism regularly gathered at the mosque. Extremist salafists consider Sufism to be a heretic rite.
It is not yet clear who is behind this attack.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has held emergency talks with security officials to decide how to respond.
NORTH SINAI
Egypt has been fighting an Islamist insurgency in the North Sinai region, which has intensified since 2013. In 2014, after an attack that killed 31 soldiers, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared a state of emergency in the peninsula, describing it as a “nesting ground for terrorism and terrorists”.
Jihadist groups in the region have pledged allegiance to Daesh (IS).
On February, hundreds of Coptic Christians had to leave Al Arish after jihadists killed seven worshippers.
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