Deadly mosque attack rocks Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula

UPDATE: The militants who attacked a Sufi mosque in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Friday killed 305 people, including 27 children. Another 128 suffered injuries. Egyptian officials raised the death toll Saturday as horrific details about the attack began to emerge. Survivors said between 25 and 30 militants descended on the mosque, arriving in all-terrain vehicles. They positioned themselves at the mosque’s 12 windows and doors and began firing on the worshippers just as the imam was about to begin delivering his message. Some of the attackers wore masks. Those who didn’t had long hair and beards. The Egyptian military claims it killed some of the attackers with airstrikes on the vehicles they used to escape. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

UPDATE (11/24/17, 2 p.m.): Egyptian officials say the death toll from Friday's mosque attack has risen to 235, with at least 109 injured. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi declared three days of official mourning and convened a meeting of high-level security officials. He vowed the attack “will not go unpunished.”

OUR EARLIER REPORT (11/24/17, 10:45 a.m.): A Friday attack targeting a mosque in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula killed at least 200 people, Egypt’s state news agency reported. The attackers set off an explosion and opened fire on worshippers at al-Rawdah mosque during a sermon, police officials said. The mosque in the town of Bir al-Abd, 25 miles from the province’s capital, el-Arish, is popular with Sufis, members of Islam’s mystical movement. Egypt’s MENA news agency said 135 other people sustained injuries in the attack, making it the deadliest ever targeting Egyptian civilians. No group has claimed responsibility, but Egypt continues to battle Islamic State militants in northern Sinai.