Little prayer

When attacking a mosque in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, 235 people died, reports the AHRAM Online with reference to the Egyptian prosecutor's office. Another 109 people were injured.

During the Friday prayer in the mosque located in the village of Rauda 40 km from the city of El-Arish, an explosion occurred. After that, the attackers opened fire on parishioners. The victims of the attack were civilians, as well as the draftees of the Egyptian army.

After the attack, the militants disappeared on four SUVs. Now the forces of the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior are searching for them. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi in connection with the incident convened a meeting of law enforcement agencies.

To date, no group has taken responsibility for the attack. The representative of the local Bedouin militia, which is opposed by the Islamic State group, said that the mosque that was attacked is known as the place of gathering followers of Sufism, the Islamic current, in which the fundamentalists see elements of idolatry.

In recent years, the attacks of jihadists have become more frequent in Egypt. The number of terrorist attacks increased after the country's armed forces overthrew President Mohammed Mursi in July 2013. Over the past four years, hundreds of police officers, military personnel and civilians became victims of explosions. In most cases, terrorist attacks were organized by the Sinai Vilayat group, closely related to IG.

The target of the Islamist attacks is often the Christian minority of Egypt, Copts. On April 9, in the Christian church in the city of Tanta north of Cairo as a result of the attack, 26 people were killed, more than 70 were injured. On the same day, in Alexandria, a suicide bomber exploded near the Christian Cathedral . 11 people died, 35 were injured. “Vilayat Sinai” also took responsibility for the explosion of a Russian aircraft with tourists in 2015, when 224 people died.