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Sunday, November 26, 2017
More than 300 people (305 at last report) attending mosque for Friday prayers on November 24 have died as a result of a militant attack in Egypt’s North Sinai. According to state media militants detonated a bomb at the mosque and then gunned down the attendees as they fled.
The bombing was at the Al Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed, west of El Arish in the North Sinai.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault, but reports say that one of the attackers was carrying a Daesh (ISIS) flag.
Worshippers were finishing Friday prayers at the mosque when a bomb exploded, witnesses said in a Reuters report, although other reports say the Iman was just about to begin services. Around 40 gunmen set up positions outside the mosque’s windows and opened fire from different directions as people tried to escape. It was also reported that the militants were firing at the ambulances trying to come to the aid of the victims.
Hours after the attack, Egypt’s military launched air strikes on targets in mountainous areas around Bir al-Abed, reportedly destroying vehicles and hideouts associated with the attack, the army said without giving numbers of militants killed. While the government claims to have hit the militants, it is likely that innocent civilians may have suffered as well. If officials knew where the militants were hiding, they would have struck them down prior to the deadly massacre.
“The armed forces and the police will avenge our martyrs and restore security and stability with the utmost force,” Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a televised address.“What is happening is an attempt to stop us from our efforts in the fight against terrorism, to destroy our efforts to stop the terrible criminal plan that aims to destroy what is left of our region.”
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