Jhelaine Palo | On 05, Dec 2017

On November 24, 2017, an Islam mosque named al Rawda was attacked by unidentified gunmen in Egypt.

The attack is concluded to be the deadliest terror attack on the country’s soil. Reportedly 311 people are dead, including 27 children. Additionally, 128 people are wounded. Bodies were scattered on the ground inside and outside the mosque. At least 10 people were handed over and accused of being Islamic State militants to Egyptian security forces.

During Friday prayers of Sufism, a mystical Islam belief and practice, an explosive detonated in a building adjacent to the mosque. A gunman fired on people retreating after explosions occurred, another one went inside and aimed at the people within the mosque. Moreover, the gunmen also fired on the ambulances after the other attacks, witnesses said.

Rising religious tensions between the local affiliate of the Islamic State and the (Bedouin) residents are said to be the factor of this attack. The motive is suspected to be revenge for the towns’ cooperation with the Egyptian military.

Eyewitnesses recalled the horror of their experience during the day of the tragic event.

One eyewitness named Mohamed recalled the horror of his experience during the day of the tragic event. “The ones who were masked spoke like Bedouin,” he claims. “The ones with their faces exposed, however, spoke with Cairo accents, they were big and had long hair.”

Ashraf Abu Salem was a first-hand witness when the attack happened. His clothes were stained with the blood of the injured he helped, but he was unharmed. He claimed that the gunmen went inside the mosque to fire at people.

Donald Trump reacted to the mosque attack stating that it was a “horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenseless.”