Egypt
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"A Real Black Friday" in Egypt: 235 Dead and 109 Injured in Terrorist Attack
Egyptian President Sisi declares three days of mourning
Egyptdailynews/World Press
Terrorists have launched an attack on El Arish Al Rawada Mosque at Al Rawda Village, 40 km west of El Arish, detonating an IED and opening fire on worshipers during Friday prayers. 235 people have been announced dead and 109 have been injured making the attack one of the worst in recent memory. Ambulances have transported the injured to Bir El Abd Hospital.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has convened an emergency meeting with his defence and interior ministers and intelligence chief, the presidency's Facebook page and state television said. A security source has told Saudi TV news channel Al Arabiya that military and police are fighting the gunmen while residents of the village of Rawda have refused to provide shelter to the militants.
This attack is the deadliest in Egypt's modern history. 224 people were killed in 2015 when Metrojet Flight 9268 disintegrated above northern Sinai. Witnesses have reported there were around 40 gunmen who set up positions outside the mosque with jeeps and opened fire from different directions as people tried to escape, reports Reuters.
The terrorists reportedly detonated a bomb before firing on fleeing worshippers while blocking escape routes with burnt-out cars. The suspected Islamic State attack took place at the Al-Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed, near El-Arish, during Friday prayers. The death toll has risen to 235, Egyptian state television reported, quoting the public prosecutor.
US President Donald Trump has condemned the mass murder as a 'horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshipers', adding: 'The world cannot tolerate terrorism.'
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has released a full statement on the attack:
The United States condemns in the strongest terms today’s horrific terrorist attack at a mosque in Egypt’s North Sinai province. We offer our condolences to the families of those killed and wounded, and we stand with the people and government of Egypt against terrorism. There can be no tolerance for barbaric groups that claim to act in the name of a faith but attack houses of worship and murder the innocent and defenseless while at prayer. The international community must continue to strengthen its efforts to defeat terrorist groups that threaten the United States and our partners and we must collectively discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence.
Ongoing war
Egyptian Culture Minister Helmy Namnam said on Egyptian TV that the attack was "part of an ongoing war that the Muslim Brotherhood group and its allies are waging against Egypt." Several other former government officials made similar claims. The Muslim Brotherhood denied responsibility following previous terror attacks.
Egypt's Islamic endowments minister told government media the militants are resorting to extremely brutal attacks because they are becoming desperate:
He says that attacking mosques is the last card they have to play. They have attacked churches before, claiming the victims were infidels, but now they are attacking mosques, because their previous attacks failed. He says they are proving that it is they who, in fact, are enemies of God.
Influx of militants
Arab media have reported a recent influx of Islamic militants from Iraq and Syria to parts of North Africa, including Egypt and Libya. Egyptian media have accused Qatar and Turkey of helping terrorists to flee Iraq and Syria to North Africa. Qatar and Turkey deny the accusations.
A witness said: 'They were shooting at people as they left the mosque. 'They were shooting at the ambulances, too.' Some reports have claimed the bomb was set off in the children's kindergarten area of the mosque before the terrorists - in military uniforms and wielding black flags - slaughtered those who fled. They added that IS militants had blocked escape routes from the area by blowing up cars and leaving the burning wrecks blocking the roads.
Another report claims that terrorists wearing suicide vests hid themselves among the people at the mosque before detonating the bombs. MP Mustafa Bakri branded the situation 'catastrophic' on Twitter. He added: 'The terrorists wore masks and surrounded the mosque during prayers, and terrorists wearing belts were hidden among the worshippers.'
A tribal leader and head of a Bedouin militia that fights Islamic State said that the mosque is known as a place of gathering for Sufis.
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Originally Posted by KMack
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