Militants attacked and killed at least 200 people at a mosque in a Sinai Peninsula town during Friday prayers, marking the deadliest such attack on Egyptian civilians in history, according to the Associated Press and other media outlets.
The town of Beer al-Abd, located on the northern coast of the Sinai Peninsula, is home to the mosque where members of the Sufis — a mystical sect of Islam — often worship. The mosque and town is 125 miles northeast of Cairo.
The extremists reportedly approached and fired at the mosque from four "off-road" vehicles and blew up vehicles to block worshipers from exiting the mosque, the AP reported citing three police officers.
The death toll could be as high as 235 people with another 109 wounded, The New York Times reported.
"I can't believe they attacked a mosque," a Muslim cleric told The Times.
Sufis are considered heretics by the more extreme wings of Islam like the Islamic State terror group, or ISIS, which has spread out across the Middle East for nearly half a decade.
At least 235 people killed and another 109 injured in the attack on a mosque in Egypt's North Sinai region, state-run reports, making it one of the deadliest attacks ever carried out against civilians in the province https://t.co/IxAIJeWs5m pic.twitter.com/oS0bzu3N0l
— CNN (@CNN) November 24, 2017
In March, ISIS decapitated two older men in Sinai after accusing them of witchcraft and apostasy against Islam. They posted a video of the decapitations to Telegram, a social media and messaging program ISIS often uses to spread propaganda or communicate.
Conducting a trial under the strict Sharia law, the verdict for the two men was read ""apostasy, sorcery, claiming the ability to tell the future, and leading people to polytheism."
Extremists have also targeted Coptic Christians, as well as soldiers and police, on the peninsula. In September, 18 policeman were killed during an attack on a convoy, according to BBC News.
The attacks have increased in Sinai since July 2013, after former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi was overthrown by Egypt's military.
The peninsula is northeast of Egypt, nestled between Africa and Asia, and separated from mainland Egypt by the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal. It's also beside the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south.
Israel, which used to control the mostly desert area, is also to the east of the Sinai. It is also separated from Saudi Arabia by the Gulf of Aqaba to the southeast.
