At least 200 worshippers have been killed by gunmen who attacked a mosque in Egypt’s Northern Sinai during Friday prayer, official sources told state news agency MENA, making the attack one of the deadliest targeting civilians in the country in recent years.
A further 130 people were injured in the combined gun and explosives attack on the Al Rawdah mosque in Bir Al Abed, to the west of the city of Arish, which is not far from the border with Gaza.
According to the Egyptian daily Al Ahram, eyewitnesses said the attack began when gunmen opened fire on worshippers after improvised explosive devices were detonated at the mosque.
Health ministry sources in the governorate said 30 ambulances were deployed to the scene to transport the injured to Arish Bir Al-Abed and Arish General hospitals.
Investigations are being carried out by state security prosecutors who have been deployed to the scene.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fatteh El Sisi is set to hold a meeting with a security committee to discuss the repercussions of the terrorist attack and has announced a nationwide three-day mourning period.
– African News Agency (ANA),
