Mosque attack in Egypt’s Sinai kills at least 235

Updated at 11:36 a.m. ET

A terrorist attack that targeted a mosque in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula has left at least 235 people dead and as many as 109 wounded Friday, that country’s state news agency reported.

The death toll makes it the biggest attack since the conflict in the North Sinai started six years ago.

The Middle East News Agency said the bombing and shooting attack took place in the city of Arish, which is about 30 miles from the border with the Gaza Strip.

Police officers told the Associated Press that men in four off-road vehicles shot at worshipers who were at the al-Rawdah mosque for Friday prayers.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is expected to address the country via state television soon, MENA reports. He chaired a meeting with security officials in the aftermath of the attack. Sissi called the attack “criminal,” and “cowardly.” The AP report goes on:

“In a televised statement Friday evening, el-Sissi said that the attack ‘will not go unpunished’ and that Egypt will persevere with its war on terrorism. The suffering of the victims was not in vain, he added, and will only ‘add to our insistence’ to combat terrorism.”

Officials from around the world, including Israel, Iraq, France and the United Kingdom, condemned the attack. President Trump denounced the attack hours later.

Horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshipers in Egypt. The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 24, 2017

My condolences to the families of the dozens of people murdered in the terror attack on a mosque in the Sinai. Israel stands shoulder to shoulder with Egypt and other countries in region and the international arena in the war against radical Islamic terror.

— ישראל כץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) November 24, 2017

الاعتداء في شمال #سيناء: وحشية وعار. #مصر في حداد و #فرنسا تقف بجانبها https://t.co/9ZxDwryiDU

— Stéphane Romatet (@SRomatet) November 24, 2017

I am disgusted by the evil attack that killed & injured so many Egyptians in Sinai today. On behalf of the UK my deep condolences to all involved. These attacks on people praying in mosques & churches only strengthen our determination to stand together, & defeat terrorism & hate.

— British Amb in Egypt (@FCOJohnCasson) November 24, 2017

It is not known yet who planned and carried out the assault on the mosque, but there has been an Islamist insurgency in the region for several years. Officials said a midair explosion of a Russian jet in 2015 over the Sinai was the work of terrorists. Sissi said the plane bombing was meant “to hit relations with Russia,” which has conducted military interventions in Syria’s civil war ostensibly to target the Islamic State there.

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