The number keeps getting bigger

Hundreds killed in Egypt mosque attack

At least 235 people were killed and another 109 injured in an attack on a mosque in Egypt's North Sinai region on Friday, Egyptian state-run Nile TV reported, making it one of the deadliest attacks ever carried out against civilians in the province.

After at least two explosions, gunmen who were waiting outside the mosque opened fire at worshipers as they fled Friday prayers, state-owned Ahram Online said.

The attack targeted Al Rawdah mosque, situated in the village of Al Rawdah between Bir Al-Abed and the city of Al-Arish.

The gunmen had set up "ambush" locations and opened fire on ambulances as they were transporting wounded worshipers from al-Rawdah toward al-Arish before the arrival of security services, eyewitnesses reported.

The mosque that was attacked is known for being the birthplace of Sheikh Eid al-Jariri, a Sufi cleric considered the founder of Sufism in the Sinai peninsula. 

Sufism is a mystical branch of Islam that some ultra-orthodox Muslims consider heretical.

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Speaking to state-run Masriya TV station, Egyptian health ministry spokesman Khalid Mujahid described the incident as a "terrorist attack."


Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi is meeting with a security committee to discuss repercussions of the attack, Masriya TV reported. The presidency has declared three days of national mourning.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack and there is no word yet on what happened to the militants involved. However, it bears the hallmarks of an attack by ISIS.


Egyptian security forces face almost daily attacks from ISIS-aligned militants, whom they have been battling in northern Sinai for several years.