President Donald Trump condemned a devastating terrorist attack on a mosque in Egypt that left more than 200 worshipers dead and dozens more wounded on Friday.
“Horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless worshipers in Egypt,” Trump tweeted. “The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence!”
Hundreds of Sufi Muslims were slaughtered during Friday prayers in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula by suspected Islamic militants. After at least two explosions, the attackers waited outside the mosque and gunned down worshipers as they tried to flee to safety.
The coordinated attack targeted the al-Rawdah mosque, which is attended mostly by Sufi Muslims. Sufis are considered by Islamic fundamentalists to be apostates and are frequently the target of Islamic militants.
As of Friday afternoon, no terror group had claimed responsibility for the attack. ISIS-aligned militants are entrenched in the Sinai Peninsula and have clashed with Egyptian security forces there for several years.
Friday’s attack drew swift condemnation from leaders throughout the Middle East and beyond. It is Egypt’s worst loss of civilian life in a single attack since ISIS-affiliated militants blew up a Russian passenger jet over the Sinai in October 2015, killing 224 people.
The death toll has risen to 235, reports Reuters, citing Egyptian state television.
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