A crowded Sufi mosque in Sinai, Egypt came under attack today. Islamists detonated a bomb inside the place of worship and sprayed a barrage of bullets at the people attempting to flee the scene. The death toll has risen to 235 victims with 109 injured. Al Rawdah mosque has gone from a peaceful place of prayer to a war-zone. Egyptian authorities are currently on the hunt to track down the terrorists responsible for this heinous act.
Ambushing the innocents
Reports from witnesses and survivors show just how barbaric this Terrorist Attack was. Ashraf Abu Salem, 27, said that the gunmen fired at people who were running away from the explosion. Gunfire began in an adjacent building and continued when the gunmen went inside the mosque.
The attackers even opened fire on ambulances from "ambush" locations. Ambulances were unable to get to the scene until security forces were able to secure the roads. Rescuers reported between 15 and 25 of the victims were children. With the body count up to 235, this is the deadliest terrorist attack to ever occur in Egypt.
Sufism
Sufism is a mystical form of Islam that is considered to be heretical by many conservative Muslims. It is not a distinct sect of Islam and can cross into both Sunni and Shia sects. The word Sufis comes from the Arabic word for the type of clothing that Islamic mystics historically wore.
Al Rawdah mosque is the birthplace of Sheikh Eid al-Jariri, a prominent Sufi cleric. He was considered to be the founder of Sufism in Sinai, Egypt.
As of now, no religious group has taken responsibility for this attack. However, Egyptian officials believe that ISIS is responsible. In 2016, Sulayman Abu Hiraz, a 100-year-old Sufi cleric, was executed in Sinai by ISIS. They claimed that the cleric was guilty of practicing witchcraft.
ISIS released a video earlier this year calling Sufism a disease. They claimed to have killed 130 Sufis at shrines throughout Pakistan and called their actions a form of purifying the faith.
National mourning
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has called for a national mourning period spanning over the next three days. The Egyptian president met with multiple government officials to discuss how to respond to the largest terrorist attack in Egypt's history. He called this attack a war crime and vowed to answer with brute force.
Earlier this year, dozens of Coptic Christians were killed in Egypt by another terrorist attack orchestrated by the Muslim Brotherhood. Islamic extremists set out to target minority groups, women, and children. The hunt for the terrorists who committed this atrocious attack today is ongoing.