Cairo - Militants killed more than 230
people at a mosque in North Sinai on Friday, detonating a bomb
and gunning down fleeing worshippers in the deadliest such
attack in Egypt's modern history, state media and witnesses
said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault,
but since 2013 Egyptian security forces have battled an Islamic
State affiliate in the mainly desert region, and militants have
killed hundreds of police and soldiers.
State media showed images of bloodied victims and bodies
covered in blankets inside the Al Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed,
west of El Arish, the main city in North Sinai.
Worshippers were finishing Friday prayers at the mosque when
a bomb exploded, witnesses said. Around 40 gunmen set up
positions outside the mosque with jeeps and opened fire from
different directions as people tried to escape.
"Four groups of armed men attacked the worshippers inside
the mosque after Friday noon prayers. Two groups were firing at
ambulances to deter them, said Mohamed, a witness.
The public prosecutors' office said in a statement 235
people had been killed and 109 more wounded.
Hours after the attack, Egypt's military launched air
strikes on targets in mountainous areas around Bir al-Abed,
destroying vehicles and hideouts associated with the attack, the
army said without giving numbers of militants killed.
"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."
Striking at a mosque would be a shift in tactics for the
Sinai militants, who have usually attacked troops and police and
Christian churches.
Arabiya news channel and some local sources said some of the
worshippers were Sufis, whom groups such as Islamic State
consider targets because they revere saints and shrines, which
for Islamists is tantamount to idolatry.
The jihadists have also attacked local tribes and their
militias for working with the army and police, branding them
traitors.
Islamic State earlier this year posted a video of the
beheading of two Sufis in northern Sinai, accusing them of
practicing "sorcery".
SINAI BRANCH
The Sinai branch is one of Islamic State's surviving
branches following the collapse of its self-declared caliphate
in Syria and Iraq after military defeats by US-backed forces.
Sisi, a former armed forces commander who presents himself
as a bulwark against Islamist militancy, convened an emergency
meeting with his defence and interior ministers and intelligence
chief soon after the attack.
Security has long been one of the key sources of public
support for the former general, who is expected to run for
re-election early next year for another four-year term.
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a post on Twitter on Friday,
called the assault a "horrible and cowardly terrorist attack".
"The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them
militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the
basis of their existence," he added.
Trump later called Sisi to express his condolences and said
the United States "stands by Egypt's side in its fight against
terrorism and is ready to strengthen cooperation with Egypt in
this field," according to a statement from Sisi's office.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and British
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also condemned the attack and
expressed solidarity with Egypt.
SINAI STRUGGLE
Egypt later said it would delay the opening of the Rafah
border crossing to Gaza after the attack due to security
concerns. The crossing had been due to open for three days
beginning on Saturday.
North Sinai, which stretches from the Suez Canal eastwards
to the Gaza Strip and Israel, has long been a security headache
for Egyptian security forces because of smuggling.
Sisi has support from some Bedouin tribal leaders, who have
helped the army locate weapon-smuggling routes used by jihadi
groups, security officials said.
Local militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, once allied to al
Qaeda, split from it and declared allegiance to Islamic State in
2014.
Bloodshed in the Sinai worsened after 2013 when Sisi led the
overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood.
In July this year, at least 23 soldiers were killed when
suicide car bombs hit two military checkpoints in the Sinai, in
an attack claimed by Islamic State.
Militants have tried to expand their operations into Egypt's
heavily populated mainland, hitting Coptic Christian churches
and pilgrims. In May, gunmen attacked a Coptic group travelling
to a monastery in southern Egypt, killing 29.