(Jerusalem, Israel) — WEDNESDAY UPDATE: The death toll continues to climb in the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of modern Egypt.
“The North Sinai health directorate announced on Wednesday the death of a man injured in Friday’s North Sinai terrorist attack, raising the number of those killed to 311,” reports the Egyptian newspaper, Al-Ahram.
The article also reported: “Abdel-Rahman Moussa, who was one of the 128 injured in the attack, died on Wednesday at El-Arish General Hospital of injuries he sustained in the attack, the health directorate said. Most of the injured are still undergoing treatment at several hospitals, mainly in Ismailia and Cairo. On Friday, 25 to 30 gunmen who were reportedly carrying flags of the Daesh terrorist group gunned down hundreds of worshippers during Friday prayers at the Al-Rawda Mosque, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypt’s recent history.”
SATURDAY UPDATE: “The death toll in Friday’s terrorist attack on a mosque in Egypt’s northern Sinai region has surpassed 300, including 27 children,” reports Fox News. “Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi has vowed to retaliate with brute force for the attack on Al Rawdah mosque that left 305 dead and 128 injured.”
This is now the deadliest terrorist attack in the modern history of Egypt.
FRIDAY UPDATE: “An attack targeting a mosque in Al-Arish on Friday killed 235 people and injured at least 109, according to Egypt’s prosecutor general,” reports an Egyptian newspaper. “The attack was an explosion due to an improvised explosive device (IED), according to local media reports, and coincided with the weekly Friday prayers. Local media reported that unknown militants opened fire at civilians after the explosion. A state of emergency has reportedly been declared in North Sinai.”
“President Sisi has declared three days of mourning,” reports the BBC. “The military is reported to have already conducted air strikes in mountains around Bir al-Abed. ‘What is happening is an attempt to stop us from our efforts in the fight against terrorism, to destroy our efforts to stop the terrible criminal plan that aims to destroy what is left of our region,’ Mr. Sisi said in a televised address.”
In his address to the nation, President Sisi also said the military and police “will avenge our martyrs” and will respond “using brute force against those fragments of terrorists” in the coming period to ensure stability and security….This evil terrorist attack will only make us more determined, solid, and strong to fight against terrorism….We will fight terrorism with unbreakable power and determination,” reported an Egyptian news site.
Sky News reports: “The country’s government has declared three days of mourning following the assault on al-Rawdah mosque on Friday afternoon — one of the deadliest attacks in Egypt’s modern history. The mosque is in Bir al-Abed in the volatile northern Sinai Peninsula, around 25 miles from the provincial capital of el-Arish, which has been regularly targeted by IS militants in recent years. Officials said around 40 militants armed with guns arrived at the mosque – largely attended by Sufi Muslims, seen as non-believers by IS – in four off-road vehicles before detonating a bomb and opening fire from different directions, blowing up cars to block routes as people tried to escape.”
The New York Times reports: “Officials called it the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypt’s modern history. The scale and ruthlessness of the assault, which occurred in a small town in the insurgency-racked Sinai Peninsula, sent shock waves across the nation, not just for the number of deaths but also for the choice of target. Attacks on mosques are rare in Egypt, where the Islamic State has targeted Coptic Christian churches and pilgrims but avoided Muslim places of worship.”
ORIGINAL POST: A terrorist attack against a mosque in Northern Sinai has left at least 155 Muslim Egyptians dead, and many wounded.
No organization has yet claimed responsibility for the ghastly attack, though forces of the Islamic State have carried out similar attacks against Muslims and Christians in Sinai.
Having just led a Delegation of Evangelical Christian leaders to visit President el-Sisi and senior Egyptian government and religious leaders, I want to extend our deepest condolences.
We Christians stand with Egypt against such evil.
Please join me in praying for President el-Sisi, Intelligence chief Khalid Fawzi, and the Egyptian security services to swiftly defeat these monstrous terrorists and bring calm and stability to the Sinai and all of Egypt.
Please pray for U.S. and Israeli leaders to provide any intelligence and security assistance Egypt may require.
Please pray most of all for the God of all comfort to comfort all those affected by the attack, for physical, emotional and spiritual healing and comfort in such a dark time.
Rev. Johnnie Moore, one of our Delegates, just reminded me of Isaiah 54:14. “In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you.” It’s a good word. Let’s pray this comes to pass for Egypt, and all the people of the Middle East.
Our Delegation traveled to Cairo earlier this month to build a sincere and lasting friendship with the leaders and people of Egypt and to encourage them in their important and courageous fight against the forces of Radical Islamism and all such wickedness.
I am sure I can speak for each Member of the Delegation when I say our admiration for President el-Sisi’s resolve to bring the perpetrators of terror to justice, and to provide true peace and prosperity for all Egyptians — Muslims, Christians, Jews and others alike — was deep before we met with him. It has only grown since.
To His Excellency the President and the nation of Egypt, the message of Evangelical Christians is simple: “Your fight is our fight. We need each other. We stand with you. We pray for you. You are not alone.”
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