WASHINGTON — Egyptian security officials said 235 people were killed Friday by suspected militants in an attack on a packed mosque in the volatile northern Sinai Peninsula.
The government’s MENA news agency said extremists targeted the al-Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed, west of the provincial capital, el-Arish.
A man claiming to have been inside the mosque during the attack told Arab media that militants in four-wheel-drive vehicles opened fire inside the house of worship following an explosion.
Eyewitnesses also said the militants fired on ambulances as emergency personnel tried to evacuate the wounded to hospitals. The state news agency said 109 people were wounded in the attack.
The attack targeted a mosque frequented by Sufis, members of a mystic movement within Islam.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but an Islamic State affiliate has been carrying out attacks in the region since 2013.
Egyptian government warplanes reportedly attacked terrorist targets in the Sinai following the carnage at the mosque.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi vowed that the attack “will not go unpunished” but did not specify what steps might be taken.
U.S. President Donald Trump reacted to the violence, calling it a “horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshippers.”
Trump added, “The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence!” in a tweet sent from Florida, where he is staying over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Neighboring Israel sent condolences to Egypt following the attack. Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979 and maintain close security cooperation.
Egypt’s security forces are battling an Islamic State insurgency, mostly in the northern region of Sinai, where militants have killed hundreds of police officers and soldiers since fighting there intensified in the past three years.
Militants have targeted security forces, but have also struck beyond the Sinai by hitting Christian churches and civilians in other parts of Egypt.
Egyptian media reported that Sissi met with top security officials, including the defense and interior ministers, immediately after the attack as security was stepped up around government buildings.
-VOA
