Updated at 1:30 p.m. ETA terrorist attack that targeted a mosque in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula has left at least 235 people dead and as many as 100 wounded Friday,that country's state news agency reported.
The death toll makes it the biggest attack since the clash 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 worshippers who were at the al-Rawdah mosque for Friday prayers.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has ordered the government to allocate 200000 in Egyptian pounds as compensation to the families of the dead, and MENA reports. He also announced three days of national mourning.
Sissi called the attack "criminal" and "cowardly." The Associated Press report goes on:
"In a televised statement Friday evening,el-Sissi said that the attack 'will not travel unpunished' and that Egypt will persevere with its war on terrorism. The suffering of the victims was not in useless, he added, or will only 'add to our insistence' to combat terrorism."November 24,2017November 24, 2017November 24, and 2017November 24,2017
Source: thetakeaway.org