Title : Arena of death: How Islamist terrorists slaughtered 305
link : Arena of death: How Islamist terrorists slaughtered 305
Arena of death: How Islamist terrorists slaughtered 305
- Hundreds slaughtered after savage gun and bomb attack at an Egyptian mosque
- They were penned-in by the terrorists and gunned down while trying to escape
- The mosque was packed for Friday prayers when the gunmen began their attack
- President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi promised a 'brutal' response after the massacre
- At least 109 are also reported to have been injured as medics rush to the scene
- WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
The terrorists who slaughtered 305 people at a mosque in Egypt yesterday were carrying an ISIS flag and wearing masks, it has been revealed.
Around thirty gunmen created an arena of death around the holy house by blocking off escape routes with burnt-out cars before gunning down the penned-in worshippers.
The public prosecutor's office said today the gunmen, wearing masks and military-style uniforms, surrounded blocked windows and a doorway before setting off a bomb and opening fire with automatic rifles.
'They numbered between 25 and 30, carrying the Daesh flag and took up positions in front of the mosque door and its 12 windows with automatic rifles,' the statement explained, using an Arabic term for ISIS.
In the meticulously planned attack - the worst Islamist atrocity in Egypt's modern history - the murderers reportedly gunned down civilians while screaming 'Allahu Akbar', causing them to stampede and jump out of windows to escape.
But when the worshippers - many of whom were Sufis, a mystical Islamic sect despised by Sunni jihadists - fled, they were caught in the trap and massacred.
Dozens of suspected ISIS terrorists created an arena of death around the holy house by blocking off escape routes with burnt-out cars before gunning down the penned-in worshippers. Pictured: Victims in the mosque
The public prosecutor's office said today the gunmen, wearing masks and military-style uniforms, surrounded blocked windows and a doorway before opening fire inside with automatic rifles
Around thirty gunmen created an arena of death around the holy house by blocking off escape routes with burnt-out cars before gunning down the penned-in worshippers
The victims included civilians and conscripts praying at the mosque, with reports suggesting the terrorists launched rockets before firing on fleeing worshippers. Pictured: The scene after the attack
In a meticulously planned attack - the worst Islamist atrocity in Egypt's modern history - the murderers surrounded the mosque in off-road cars and fired rocket-propelled grenades inside. Pictured: A burnt-out car outside the mosque
Ahmed Abul Gheit, head of the Arab League, which is based in Cairo, condemned the 'terrifying crime which again shows that Islam is innocent of those who follow extremist terrorist ideology,' his spokesman said in a statement. Pictured: Where the attack occurred
The murderers then fled the Al-Rawdah mosque (pictured) - in Bir al-Abed, near El-Arish on the Sinai Peninsula - before being blown up hours later by Egyptian warplanes
Twenty-seven children were among the innocents gunned down and blown up.
At least 128 were also hurt during the horrifying bloodshed, according to the state news agency.
The murderers then fled the Al-Rawdah mosque - in Bir al-Abed, near El-Arish on the Sinai Peninsula - before being blown up hours later by Egyptian warplanes.
A statement by chief prosecutor Nabil Sadeq said the attackers arrived at the mosque in five all-terrain vehicles and positioned themselves at the main door and the facility's 12 windows before opening fire.
They also torched seven cars parked outside the mosque, which belonged to worshippers inside.
The public prosecutor's office said today the gunmen, wearing masks and military-style uniforms, surrounded blocked windows and a doorway before setting off a bomb and opening fire with automatic rifles. Pictured: The inside of the mosque after the attack
A statement by chief prosecutor Nabil Sadeq said the attackers arrived at the mosque in five all-terrain vehicles and positioned themselves at the main door and the facility's 12 windows before opening fire. Pictured: A Quran and remnants of personal belongings of victims of the explosion are seen at Al Rawdah mosque
The terrorists torched seven cars parked outside the mosque, which belonged to worshippers inside
Abdullah Abdel-Nasser, 14, who was attending prayers with his father, said the shooting began just as the cleric was about to start his sermon, sending panicked worshippers rushing to hide behind concrete columns or whatever shelter they could find.
At one point, a militant shouted for children to leave, so Abdel-Nasser said he rushed out, though he was wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel and a bullet.
'I saw many people on the floor, many dead. I don't think anyone survived,' he said at a hospital in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, where around 40 of the wounded were taken, including many children.
Mohammed Ali said 18 members of his extended family were killed in the attack. The mosque belonged to a local clan, the Jreer, so many of its members worshipped there.
'Where was the army? It's only a few kilometers away. This is the question we cannot find an answer to,' he said.
Quoting testimonies given to investigators by survivors, the prosecutor's statement said some of the attackers were masked. Those who were not sported heavy beards and long hair. The militants wore camouflaged pants and black T-shirts, it added.
The statement was the most detailed by authorities on the attack.
Witnesses spoke of horrific scenes during the approximately 20 minutes it took the militants to kill and maim worshippers.
They spoke of some jumping out of windows, a stampede in a corridor leading to the washrooms and of children screaming in horror.
Some spoke of their narrow escape from a certain death, others of families that lost all or most of their male members.
President Abdel Fattah al Sisi convened an emergency security meeting soon after the attack, state television reported. Pictured: Victims in the mosque
One witness, Ebid Salem Mansour, said the imam had barely made it atop the mosque pulpit to deliver the sermon when intense gunfire rang out.
'We knew that the mosque was under attack by (militants),' he said, recounting an attack that constitutes a grim milestone in Egypt's brutal fight against increasingly emboldened militants.
Mansour, a 38-year-old worker in a nearby salt factory, said he settled in Bir al-Abd, the small town near where the attack took place, three years ago to escape the bloodshed and fighting elsewhere in northern Sinai.
He suffered two gunshot wounds in the legs on Friday.
'Everyone layed down on the floor and kept their heads down. If you raised your head you get shot,' he said.
'The shooting was random and hysterical at the beginning and then became more deliberate: Whoever they weren't sure was dead or still breathing was shot dead.'
The militants were shouting Allahu Akbar, or God is great, and the children were screaming, Mansour said.
'I knew I was injured but I was in a situation that was much scarier than being wounded. I was only seconds away from a certain death,' he said. As the shooting took place, many of the worshippers recited their final prayers, he added.
The militants, according to another witness, said worshippers began to jump out of windows as soon as the militants opened fire.
'The small door that leads to the corridor for the wash rooms was about the only one where worshippers rushed to escape,' said a 38-year-old government employee who did not want to be named for fear of retaliation.
'There was a stampede. I fell down and then bodies piled up on top of me,' he said.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but ISIS has in the past vowed to rid Sinai, and Egypt, of Sufis.
A local ISIS affiliate is spearheading the insurgency in Sinai, where government forces have battled militants for years.
Some reports claimed a rocket was fired into the children's kindergarten area of the mosque before the terrorists - in military uniforms and wielding black flags - slaughtered those who fled. Pictured: People in the area after the savage attack
A still taken from a video footage shows people and ambulances waiting to evacuate victims outside the mosque
Several hours later Egyptian air force jets destroyed vehicles used in the attack and 'terrorist' locations where weapons and ammunition were stocked, an army spokesman said. Pictured: The aftermath of the attack
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi declared three days of mourning will begin today, with a special prayer service starting this morning.
In a televised speech the president pledged to 'respond with brutal force', adding that 'the army and police will avenge our martyrs and return security and stability with force in the coming short period'.
He went on: '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.'
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (pictured) vowed to respond to the attack with 'brute force'
Several hours later Egyptian air force jets destroyed vehicles used in the attack and 'terrorist' locations where weapons and ammunition were stocked, an army spokesman said.
President Sissi also ordered the construction of a mausoleum in memory of the slain.
He did not say where it would stand or who would be commissioned to build it, but the decision to have one reflects the depth of grief felt by the government over the death of so many people.
A witness of the attack said: 'They were shooting at people as they left the mosque.
'They were shooting at the ambulances, too.'
Some reports claimed a rocket was fired into the children's kindergarten area of the mosque before the terrorists - in military uniforms and wielding black flags - slaughtered those who fled.
A tribal leader and head of a Bedouin militia that fights Islamic State said that the mosque is known as a place of gathering for Sufis.
The Islamic State group shares the puritan Salafi view of Sufis as heretics for seeking the intercession of saints.
A tribal leader and head of a Bedouin militia that fights Islamic State said that the mosque is known as a place of gathering for Sufis. Pictured: People outside the mosque on Friday
An injured man, identified as Reda, who survived Sinai mosque attack, receiving treatment at a hospital in Cairo
Cairo's international airport boosted security following the attack, with more troopers and forces seen patrolling passenger halls, conducting searches and manning checkpoints at airport approaches. Pictured: A victim in hospital
Egyptian army conscripts stand guard outside the Suez Canal University hospital in the eastern port city of Ismailia after the attack
Cairo's international airport boosted security following the attack, with more troopers and forces seen patrolling passenger halls, conducting searches and manning checkpoints at airport approaches.
Resident Ashraf el-Hefny said many of the victims were workers at a nearby salt firm who had come for Friday services at the mosque, which had contained hundreds of worshippers.
'Local people brought the wounded to hospital on their own cars and trucks,' he said.
US President Donald Trump used the attack to make the case for building a wall with Mexico and a travel ban on citizens of countries plagued by terrorism.
In response to the savagery, the lights of the Eiffel Tower in Paris were switched off
The President used Twitter to make his case for building a wall with Mexico and imposing a travel ban
In the aftermath of the atrocity, he tweeted: 'Will be calling the President of Egypt in a short while to discuss the tragic terrorist attack, with so much loss of life.
'We have to get TOUGHER AND SMARTER than ever before, and we will. Need the WALL, need the BAN! God bless the people of Egypt.'
Earlier he condemned the mass murder as a 'horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshipers', adding: 'The world cannot tolerate terrorism.'
Police said militants in four off-road vehicles bombed the mosque and fired on worshippers during the sermon segment of Friday prayers. Pictured: Al-Rawdah mosque
British prime minister Theresa May said she was 'appalled by the sickening attack', which she declared an 'evil and cowardly act'.
UK foreign minister Boris Johnson, meanwhile, condemned the 'barbaric attack' in a post on Twitter, while his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed his condolences to the families of victims of the 'despicable attack'.
Ahmed Abul Gheit, head of the Arab League, which is based in Cairo, condemned the 'terrifying crime which again shows that Islam is innocent of those who follow extremist terrorist ideology,' his spokesman said in a statement.
In response to the savagery, the lights of the Eiffel Tower in Paris were switched off.
The jihadists had previously kidnapped and beheaded an elderly Sufi leader, accusing him of practising magic which Islam forbids, and abducted Sufi practitioners later released after 'repenting.'
The group has killed more than 100 Christians in church bombings and shootings in Sinai and other parts of Egypt, forcing many to flee the peninsula.
A tribal leader and head of a Bedouin militia that fights Islamic State said that the mosque is known as a place of gathering for Sufis. Pictured: Inside the mosque after the attack
Cairo's international airport boosted security following the attack, with more troopers and forces seen patrolling passenger halls, conducting searches and manning checkpoints at airport approaches. Pictured: People gathering outside the mosque after the attack today
Witnesses spoke of horrific scenes during the approximately 20 minutes it took the militants to kill and maim worshippers. Pictured: The aftermath of the slaughter
The military has struggled to quell the jihadists who pledged allegiance to IS in November 2014.
IS regularly conducts attacks against soldiers and policemen in the peninsula bordering Israel and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, although the frequency and scale of such attacks has diminished over the past year.
They have since increasingly turned to civilian targets, attacking not only Christians and Sufis but also Bedouin Sinai inhabitants accused of working with the army.
Aside from IS, Egypt also faces a threat from Al-Qaeda-aligned jihadists who operate out of neighbouring Libya.
British prime minister Theresa May said she was 'appalled by the sickening attack', which she declared an 'evil and cowardly act'
US President Donald Trump has condemned the mass murder as a 'horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshipers', adding: 'The world cannot tolerate terrorism'
A group calling itself Ansar al-Islam - Supporters of Islam in Arabic - claimed an October ambush in Egypt's Western Desert that killed at least 16 policemen.
Many of those killed belonged to the interior ministry's secretive National Security Service.
The military later conducted air strikes on the attackers, killing their leader Emad al-Din Abdel Hamid, a most wanted jihadist who was a military officer before joining an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group in Libya's militant stronghold of Derna.
Reacting to the news, Britain's ambassador to Egypt, John Casson, tweeted: 'I am disgusted by the evil attack that killed & injured so many Egyptians in Sinai today. On behalf of the UK my deep condolences to all involved.
'These attacks on people praying in mosques & churches only strengthen our determination to stand together, & defeat terrorism & hate.'
The main gateway for Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip was closed following the attack.
The Rafah crossing was expected to open temporarily. But following the attack, travelers were told they would not be able to cross after all.
On Saturday, guards were the only people to be seen at the crossing. Ruling party Hamas says 30,000 people have been waiting for a chance to travel. Thus far, Rafah has opened for people exiting Gaza only 17 days this year.
Egypt has kept Rafah largely sealed off since 2013, after the ouster of Egypt's elected Islamist President Mohammed Morsi while authorities have been fighting an Islamist insurgency.
Hamas, which has wielded power in Gaza since it ousted forces loyal to the Western-backed Fatah faction in 2007, condemned the Sinai attack.
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