Militants armed with guns and explosives stormed a crowded mosque in Egypt’s restive northern Sinai on Friday, killing at least 235 people and wounding 109 others in the deadliest single attack in the country in recent memory.
The scale of the assault and the choice of target — people gathered for Friday prayers at a mosque frequented by Sufi Muslims — stunned the nation, drew international condemnation and triggered air raids by Egypt’s military. Attacks on mosques are rare in Egypt, but Sufis are considered heretics by jihadist movements such as Islamic State.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which took place west of the seaside city of Arish. But the Sinai Peninsula, a triangular piece of land bordering Israel, the Gaza Strip and the Suez Canal, has been the main battleground in the government’s fight against local militants who’ve declared allegiance to Islamic State. Islamic State-Sinai Province has killed hundreds of police and soldiers in recent years. Over the past 12 months, it has turned its guns increasingly on civilians, with attacks on churches packed for Christmas and Easter prayers, and now on Muslim worshipers.
“This is a shift in the tactics of the terrorists,” said Hossam El-Rifai, a member of parliament for northern Sinai. “An attack on civilians at Friday prayers is not something we have been used to seeing.”