Getty View of the Rawda mosque.
Graphic video and photos captured the carnage from a horrific terrorist attack that killed hundreds of people, including children, as they gathered for prayers in Egypt. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in the nation’s modern history. Be forewarned that the photos and videos below are disturbing.
The terror attack, which is being blamed on Islamic militants, has killed more than 235 people and wounded as many as 130. It unfolded during prayers at the Rawdah Mosque in Egypt, as mask-wearing and flag-bearing militants, possibly affiliated with ISIS, set off explosives and then ambushed fleeing worshippers, even shooting them from “ambush locations” as they ran. Graphic videos circulated on social media.
The attack, which occurred November 24 in the North Sinai province, was the “deadliest ever attack on Egyptian civilians by Islamic extremists” and involved both gunfire and explosives, according to The Times of Israel.
Breaking News: A terror attack on a mosque in #Egypt‘s North Sinai region. At least 200 killed and 130 injured. This is the most deadly attack in the country’s recent history.
Our thoughts and prayers are with them right now.
U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on the terror attack, writing on Twitter, “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!”
Egyptians walk past bodies following a gun and bombing attack at the Rawda mosque, roughly 40 kilometres west of the North Sinai capital of El-Arish, on November 24, 2017.
The massacre occurred as people gathered for prayers in the mosque. “…gunmen opened fire on the worshipers gathered for weekly Friday prayers,” reported the Times of Israel, adding that an explosion tore through the mosque first. According to CNN, the explosions were designed to provoke those praying to flee the mosque. When they did flee, the gunmen were waiting for them and opened fire, CNN reported.
The scene inside the mosque.
The network reported that the gunmen had positioned themselves in “ambush locations” to kill the fleeing worshippers. “After at least two explosions, gunmen who were waiting outside the mosque opened fire at worshipers as they fled Friday prayers,” CNN reported, citing the state-owned media outlet Ahram Online. Bodies were strewn throughout the floor of the mosque after the attack, and the terrorists even opened fire on ambulances that arrived to assist the wounded.
Who committed the attack? According to CNN, no one claimed responsibility in the hours right after it, but it bore similarities to tactics used by ISIS. “It bears the hallmarks of an attack by ISIS,” CNN reported. “Egyptian security forces face almost daily attacks from ISIS-aligned militants, whom they have been battling in northern Sinai for several years.”
The terrorist attack scene.
According to UK Mirror, “It was the deadliest terror attack in modern Egyptian history, eclipsing the bombing of a Russian passenger jet which killed 224,” and the attackers were masked and carried black flags as they staged the terrorist attack on the peaceful worshippers at the mosque. There is an ISIS insurgency in the area, Mirror reported. The plane crash attack remains under investigation, although ISIS did claim responsibility for it. There have been other attacks on Coptic Christians but they did not kill as many people as the November 24 mosque attack.