Airstrikes launched after Egypt mosque attack leaves hundreds dead
The strikes targeting suspected hideouts come after Egypt's president pledged a "brutal" response to an attack which killed 235.
Saturday 25 November 2017 10:44, UK
Egyptian jets have destroyed vehicles used in a bomb and gun attack on a mosque in Sinai that left hundreds of people dead.
At least 235 people were killed and many others wounded when a bomb exploded in the al Rawdah mosque in Bir al Abed, and then 40 militants sprayed bullets into the crowds of people who ran outside to escape.
Airstrikes were concentrated on several mountainous areas where militants were believed to be hiding out, security sources told Reuters.
In addition to the vehicles targeted, the jets also hit "terrorist" locations where weapons and ammunition were stocked, according to a spokesman for the Egyptian army.
Eyewitnesses to the mosque attack said gunmen fired on worshippers as they fled and also shot at ambulances.
Abdullah Abdel-Nasser, 14, said he was attending prayers with his father when he heard a militant shouting for children to leave the mosque.
The boy, who was shot in the shoulder as he escaped, said: "I saw many people on the floor, many dead. I don't think anyone survived."
Mohammed Ali said 18 members of his extended family were killed.
He added: "Where was the army? (They are) only a few kilometres away. This is the question we cannot find an answer to."
The attack on the mosque - largely attended by Sufi Muslims, seen as non-believers by IS - wounded more than 100 people and is one of the deadliest atrocities in Egypt's modern history.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the killings - which came amid weekly Friday prayers - but state news agency MENA said they "appeared" to have been carried out by IS.
Bir al Abed is in the volatile northern Sinai Peninsula, around 25 miles from the provincial capital of el Arish, which has been regularly targeted by IS militants in recent years.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi pledged a "brutal" response to the "criminal" and "cowardly" attack following an emergency security meeting, insisting that it "will not go unpunished".
He added: "The army and police will avenge our martyrs and return security and stability with force in the coming short period."
Meanwhile, Donald Trump described the attack as "horrible and cowardly".
The US President tweeted: "The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit the extremist ideology that forms the basis of their existence!"
Cairo's international airport has boosted security following the attack, with troops seen patrolling passenger halls, conducting searches and manning checkpoints.
Egypt's government has declared three days of mourning, while the Eiffel Tower's lights were switched off at midnight on Friday in a show of solidarity.
IS militants have killed hundreds of police and soldiers in Sinai Peninsula since fighting intensified over the last three years, although they have mostly targeted Egypt's security forces.
Earlier this year, IS posted a video of the beheading of two Sufis in northern Sinai, accusing them of practising "sorcery", and in July the group claimed responsibility for suicide car bomb attacks on two military checkpoints in the region, which killed 23 soldiers.
:: Egypt attack: Why were Sufis targeted?
They have also targeted Christian churches and pilgrims in the country. A bombing in October 2014 led to the Government declaring a three-month state of emergency, but Friday's attack is the region's deadliest to date.
Middle East analyst Timothy Kaldas told Sky News that the military's "scorched Earth" approach towards eliminating IS did not appear to be working and described the scale of the attacks in the region as "unprecedented".
"The number of attacks has gone down slightly but the casualty figures have actually risen," he said.
He added: "Not enough has been done to win over the local population to deny Isis safe haven recruits.
"There's been reports of abuse where captured militants have been executed by the military, so there's a lot of concerns that the way the government is approaching things is actually increasing militancy rather than decreasing it."
The attack comes days after a deadly bombing on a mosque in Nigeria, which killed at least 50 people.