Militants reportedly linked to "Islamic State" have targeted a mosque in the north of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 305 people and wounding scores. Egyptian authorities say the death toll is likely to rise.
Image: picture-alliance/AA
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Authorities said that shortly after the noon prayer time on Friday, men in four off-road vehicles surrounded the Al Rawdah mosque, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the provincial capital, Arish, before planting explosives.
After the explosives went off, the attackers opened fire at those who fled. Media reports described at least 20 masked gunmen using automatic rifles in the assault.
The victims included civilians and military conscripts.
The mosque is largely attended by Sufis, who follow a mystical branch of Sunni Islam. Islamic extremists consider Sufis heretics.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore all the signs of the "Islamic State" (IS).
Egyptian security forces are fighting an insurgency by an IS-affiliated group in Sinai, with militants having killed hundreds of police and soldiers over the past three years as fighting there intensified.
Militants have also previously targeted Sufis and Coptic Christians, as well as civilians accused of cooperating with government forces.
The attack on the al-Rawdah mosque took place during a congregational prayer sessionImage: Getty Images/AFP
Air strikes
Later on Friday, Egypt's air force bombed "terrorist" locations in the northern mountainous area around Bir al-Abed in response to the deadliest terror attack in the country's history.
Earlier in the day on Friday, militants set off bombs and opened fire on worshippers at a mosque in Egypt's restive northern Sinai, killing at least 305 people and injuring some 128 others, according to the public prosecutor's office.
Spokesperson for the Egyptian air force Tamer-el Refai said that air force planes sent to Bir al-Abed had "destroyed several vehicles used in the attack" as well as targeted hideouts where weapons and ammunition were stockpiled.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi had promised that the attack would "not go unpunished." He convened an emergency security meeting soon after the terrorist assault.
The Egyptian government also declared three days of mourning in the wake of the attack, as international condemnation and condolences poured in.
US President Donald Trump described the violence as a "horrible and cowardly terrorist attack" and called for the world to take tougher military measures against extremism.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also announced that the Eifel Tower would go dark at midnight to honor the victims of the deadly assault. The city's landmark tower has turned off its lights in solidarity with other cities that have been struck by terror, such as Barcelona, Spain and Mogadishu, Somalia.
The United Nations also condemned the attack in "the strongest terms" and expressed its condolences for the victims' families and the people of Egypt.
Egypt also received messages of solidarity and condolence from Israel, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Russia and the Vatican.
cmb/rt (dpa, AFP, AP)
Egypt's deadliest terror attacks
The rise of Islamic extremism in and around Egypt since the 1990s has seen a big rise the number of attacks targeting tourists and non-Muslims. DW looks back at some of the most devastating.
Image: picture-alliance/AA
1997 Luxor massacre
Sixty-two tourists were killed at Egypt's Deir el-Bahri archaeological site in Luxor. Six assailants, thought to have been linked to al-Qaida, disguised themselves as members of the security forces and descended on the temple armed with automatic machine guns and knives. Egyptian tourist police and military forces eventually stopped the attackers, who were either killed or committed suicide.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. El-Dakhakhny
2004 Sinai bombings
A series of bomb attacks targeting tourists in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula killed 34 people and injured 171. Most of the casualties were killed after a truck drove into the lobby of the Taba Hilton. Two more bombs went off at campsites some 50 kilometers away, killing a handful of people. Roughly half the casualties were foreigners, including 12 Israelis.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/A. Nabil
2005 Sharm el-Sheikh attacks
The attack in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh was carried out on Egypt's Revolution Day and for a decade remained the worst Islamist attack in Egypt's history. A series of bombs planted close to bars and restaurants, as well as by a hotel, killed 88 people and injured 150. The majority of victims were locals, although a number of tourists also died, including 11 British nationals.
Image: dpa
2006 Dahab bombings
The attack on the the Egyptian resort city of Dahab marked the third consecutive year that tourist resorts had been targeted. A series of blasts in a restaurant, a café and a market killed at least 23 people, most of whom were local, and wounded around 80. Egyptian officials maintain that the attacks were carried out by the Islamist cell known as Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, a forerunner of "IS."
Image: AP
2015 Metrojet Flight 9268 disaster
All 224 mostly Russian passengers were killed when Metrojet Flight 9268 suddenly dropped out of the sky over the Egypt's Sinai peninsula, shortly after having taken off from Sharm el-Sheikh international airport. Authorities agree that it appeared a bomb had been snuck on board. The so-called "Islamic State" jihadi group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Grigoriev
2016 Attacks on Egypt's Coptic Christian minorities
While Egypt's Coptic Christians have for decades been targeted by Islamists, deadly attacks on Coptic churches have increased dramatically in recent months. At least 102 Egyptian Christians have been killed in four separate attacks since December 2016.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Stringer
2017 Coptic church and Al-Rawda mosque bombings
On April 9, 2017, the Coptic church faith followers encountered devastating twin blasts in Tanta and Alexandria as they celebrated Palm Sunday, killing 28 and 17 people respectively. On November 24, 2017, a bomb went off outside of Al-Rawda mosque in the city of Al-Arish in the northern Sinai Peninsula, which claimed the lives of more than 300 people and injured 109 others.
