2017 Sinai mosque attack

Last updated

Al-Rawda mosque attack
Part of the Sinai insurgency and Terrorism in Egypt
2017 Sinai mosque attack
Location Al-Rawda, Bir al-Abed, North Sinai Governorate, Egypt
Coordinates 31°2′22″N33°20′52″E / 31.03944°N 33.34778°E / 31.03944; 33.34778
Date24 November 2017;6 years ago (2017-11-24)
1:50 PM EET (UTC+2)
Targetal-Rawda mosque
Attack type
 Bombing, mass shooting
WeaponsIEDs, rocket-propelled grenades and firearms
Deaths311 [1] [2]
Injuredat least 128 [3]
PerpetratorsIslamic State flag.svg  Islamic State
Motive Anti-Sufism [4] [5]

At 1:50 PM EET on 24 November 2017, the al-Rawda mosque was attacked by roughly 40 gunmen during Friday prayers. The mosque is located in the village of Al-Rawda [6] east of the town of Bir al-Abed in Egypt's North Sinai Governorate. It is one of the main mosques associated with the Jaririya Sufi order, one of the largest Sufi orders in North Sinai. The Jaririya order is named for its founder, Sheikh Eid Abu Jarir, who was a member of the Sawarka tribe and the Jarira clan. The Jarira clan resides in the vicinity of Bir al-Abed. [7] [8] The attack killed 311 people and injured at least 128, making it the deadliest attack in Egyptian history. [2] It was the second-deadliest terrorist attack of 2017, after the Mogadishu bombings on 14 October. [9] The attack was universally condemned by many world leaders and organizations.

Contents

Attack

Al-Rawda Mosque, which is located on Sinai's main coastal highway connecting the city of Port Said to Gaza, belongs to the local Jarir clan, of the Sawarka tribe, who follow the Jaririya (Gaririya) Sufi order [10] [11] [12] [13] —an offshoot of the movement of Abu Ahmed al-Ghazawi, [14] [15] of the broader Darqawa order. [16] The mosque is on the road between El Arish and Bir al-Abed. [17] The mosque has a smaller zawiyah, a Sufi lodge, attached. [18]

According to local media, attackers in four off-road vehicles planted three bombs; the attackers used the burning wrecks of cars to block off escape routes. After their detonation, they launched rocket propelled grenades and opened fire on worshippers during the crowded Friday prayer at al-Rawda near Bir al-Abed. [11] When ambulances arrived to transport the wounded to hospitals, the attackers opened fire on them as well, having selected ambush points from which to target them. Local residents quickly responded, bringing the wounded to hospitals in their own cars and trucks, and even taking up weapons to fight back. [3] [19] [20]

Casualties

311 people were killed in the attack, including 27 children, and at least 128 other people were wounded. [2] [7] [1] Many of the victims worked at a nearby salt factory and were at the mosque for Friday prayers. [21] [11]

Responsibility

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, [20] although there were reports that the attack appeared to be the work of Islamic State's Wilayat Sinai branch. [3] On 25 November, the Egyptian public prosecutor's office, citing interviews with survivors, said the attackers brandished the Islamic State flag. [22] [23]

Islamist militants have been active in the Sinai since July 2013, killing at least 1,000 Egyptian security forces personnel. [24] According to The New York Times , in January 2017 an interview of an insurgent commander in Sinai appeared in issue five of the Islamic State magazine Rumiyah , where the commander condemned Sufi practices and identified the district where the attack occurred as one of three areas where Sufis live in Sinai that Islamic State intended to "eradicate." [2] The community had been repeatedly threatened to refrain from Sufi practices. [25]

Jund al-Islam, an al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group in Sinai who were formerly affiliated with ISIL, [26] declared their innocence and condemned the attack on the al-Rawda mosque. [27]

Reactions

Egypt declared three days of national mourning following the attack. [28] Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said the attack "shall not go unpunished". [20] The President also ordered the government to allocate funds for compensating families of the dead. [29]

The Muslim Brotherhood wrote on Twitter and Facebook that it "condemns in the strongest words" the attack and that those responsible should "renounce extremism and violence". [30] [31] Al-Azhar University, Egypt's oldest accredited university, issued a statement condemning the attacks, adding "terrorism will be routed". [32] [33]

One week after the attack, Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb, along with Grand Mufti Shawki Allam and Religious Endowments Minister Mokhtar Gomaa, performed Friday prayers at al-Rawda mosque. [34]

The attack was widely condemned by the international community, with many world leaders issuing official statements and social media posts. [20] Turkey declared one day of national mourning on 27 November. [35]

The Supreme Council for Sufi Orders cancelled street celebrations of Mawlid throughout Egypt as a sign of mourning. [36]

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights strongly condemned the attacks, [37] and weeks later issued a report that considered the massacre an attempt of genocide against the Sufi Muslim community of the Sinai Peninsula. [38] EOHR also called upon the Egyptian government to provide adequate protection for minorities.

A three-day opening of the border crossing into Gaza from Rafah, Egypt, scheduled for 25–27 November, was cancelled due to security concerns. [39] The Cairo International Film Festival stated in a press release its intention to continue with the festival, and condemned the attacks. [40]

The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality building, the Library of Birmingham, the Kuwait Towers and the CN Tower were illuminated with the colors of the Egyptian flag as a sign of solidarity. The lights of the Eiffel Tower were extinguished as well. [41] [42] The Royal Hashemite Court flew the Jordanian flag at half-mast. [43]

Military response

President el-Sisi vowed to respond with "the utmost force". In the days immediately after the attack the Air Force announced that it had pursued and destroyed some of the militants' vehicles and weapons stocks. [28] Airstrikes were also conducted in the neighboring mountains. [44]

In February 2018, Egypt responded to this attack with major air strikes and land assaults against terrorist positions in Sinai. [45]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Sinai Governorate</span> Governorate of Egypt

North Sinai Governorate is one of the governorates of Egypt. It is located in the north-eastern part of the country, and encompasses the northern half of the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered in the north by the Mediterranean Sea, in the south by South Sinai Governorate, in the west by Port Said, Ismailia, and Suez Governorates, and in the east by the Gaza Strip in Palestine and Israel. Its capital is the city of El Arish. A governorate is administered by a governor, who is appointed by the President of Egypt and serves at the president's discretion.

Takfiri is an Arabic and Islamic term denoting a Muslim who excommunicates one of his/her coreligionists, i.e. who accuses another Muslim of being an apostate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terrorism in Egypt</span> List of terrorist attacks in Egypt from the 1940s to the present day

Terrorism in Egypt in the 20th and 21st centuries has targeted the Egyptian government officials, Egyptian police and Egyptian army members, tourists, Sufi Mosques and the Christian minority. Many attacks have been linked to Islamic extremism, and terrorism increased in the 1990s when the Islamist movement al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya targeted high-level political leaders and killed hundreds – including civilians – in its pursuit of implementing traditional Sharia law in Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reactions to the September 11 attacks</span> Reaction to 2001 terrorist attacks

The September 11 attacks were condemned by world leaders and other political and religious representatives and the international media, as well as numerous memorials and services all over the world. The attacks were widely condemned by world governments, including those traditionally considered hostile to the United States, such as Cuba, Iran, Syria, Libya, North Korea, and Afghanistan itself. However, in a few cases celebrations of the attacks were also reported, and some groups and individuals accused the United States in effect of bringing the attacks on itself. These reports have been uncorroborated and many have been linked to unsubstantiated conspiracy theories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinai insurgency</span> Defunct insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai insurgency was an insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, launched by Islamist militants against Egyptian security forces, which also included attacks on civilians. The insurgency began during the Egyptian Crisis, during which the longtime Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salafi–Sufi relations</span> Relations between two major Islamic schools of thought

Salafi–Sufi relations refer to the religious, social and political relations between Salafis and Sufis, who represent two major scholarly movements which have been influential within Sunni Muslim societies. The debates between Salafi and Sufi schools of thought dominated the Sunni world since the classical era, splitting their influence across religious communities and cultures, with each school competing for scholarly authority via official and unofficial religious institutions. The relationship between Salafism and Sufism – two movements of Islam with different interpretations of Islam – is historically diverse and reflects some of the changes and conflicts in the Muslim world today.

On 24 October 2014, militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis ISIL launched two attacks on Egyptian Armed Forces positions in the Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 33 security personnel in one of the deadliest assaults on the Egyptian military in decades.

The Qatif and Dammam mosque bombings occurred on 22 and 29 May 2015. On Friday May 22, a suicide bomber attacked the Shia "Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque" situated in Qudeih village of Qatif city in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the blast, which killed at least 21 people. The event is the second deadly attack against Shia in six months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islamic State – Sinai Province</span> Branch of the Salafi jihadist group IS

The Islamic State – Sinai Province was a branch of the jihadist organization Islamic State that was active in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of terrorism in Egypt (2013–present)</span> Islamist insurgency in Egypt

In July 2013, at the same time as mass protests began against the 3 July coup d'état which deposed Mohamed Morsi, and in parallel with the escalation of the already ongoing jihadist insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, pro-Muslim Brotherhood militants started violent attacks against policemen and soldiers in central and western Egypt. In the following months, new Islamist armed groups were created to reinstate Islamist rule in Egypt, like Soldiers of Egypt and the Popular Resistance Movement. Since 2013, violence in mainland Egypt has escalated and developed into a low-level Islamist insurgency against the Egyptian government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Persecution of Sufis</span>

Persecution of Sufis over the course of centuries has included acts of religious discrimination, persecution, and violence both by Sunni and Shia Muslims, such as destruction of Sufi shrines, tombs and mosques, suppression of Sufi orders, murder, and terrorism against adherents of Sufism in a number of Muslim-majority countries. The Republic of Turkey banned all Sufi orders and abolished their institutions in 1925, after Sufis opposed the new secular order. The Islamic Republic of Iran has harassed Sufis, reportedly for their lack of support for the government doctrine of "governance of the jurist".

The October 2016 Sinai attacks was a terrorist attack on an Egyptian army checkpoint in the city of Bir al-Abed, Egypt, on 14 October 2016. A group of militants armed with assault rifles and heavier weapons attacked an Egyptian army checkpoint while mortar rounds and rockets were fired directed to a military checkpoint. In response, the Egyptian military forces killed around 15 militants following the attack. The Islamic State's Wilayat Sinai branch claimed responsibility in a statement released later the same day.

On Palm Sunday, 9 April 2017, twin suicide bombings took place at St. George's Church in the northern Egyptian city of Tanta on the Nile delta, and Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, the principal church in Alexandria, seat of the Coptic papacy. At least 43 people were reported killed and 789 injured. The attacks were carried out by a security detachment of ISIS.

On 14 July 2017, three Arab-Israeli men left the Temple Mount, and opened fire on Israeli border police officers stationed near the Gate of the Tribes which is close to the Lions' Gate. Two Israeli border police officers were killed and two more were injured in the attack. All three attackers were shot and killed by Israeli police after fleeing back into the complex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Temple Mount crisis</span>

The 2017 Temple Mount crisis was a period of violent tensions related to the Temple Mount, which began on 14 July 2017, after a shooting incident in the complex in which Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli police officers. Following the attack, Israeli authorities installed metal detectors at the entrance to the Mount in a step that caused large Palestinian protests and was severely criticized by Palestinian leaders, the Arab League, and other Muslim leaders, on the basis that it constituted a change in the "status quo" of the Temple Mount entry restrictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bir al-Abd</span> City in North Sinai, Egypt

Bir al-Abed is one of the cities of North Sinai in the north east of Egypt. It is the capital of Bir al-Abd Markaz, located on the international coastal road on the shores of Lake Bardawil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eid Abu Jarir</span> Sufi Sheikh

Eid Abu Jarir was a Sufi shaykh who founded the eponymous Jaririya Sufi order in Sinai, Egypt. Alongside his teacher Abu Ahmed al-Ghazawi, who founded the Alawi-Ahmadi tariqah, he is considered one of the founders of Sufism in the Sinai Peninsula. He was a member of the Jarir clan of the al-Sawarka tribe. The main three Sufi lodges he established, starting in the winter of 1953-1954, are the Sa’ud lodge in Sharqia, the Arab lodge in Ismailia, and the Rawdah lodge in North Sinai, the last of which was attacked in the 2017 Sinai mosque attack. He was part of the Sinai Mujahideen, which fought against Israel alongside the Egyptian military in the 1967 to 1970 War of Attrition. He was driven out of North Sinai in the 1960s, and lived the rest of his life and has his tomb in Sa'ed, El Husseiniya, near Cairo. Under law number 118 for the year 1976, his Jariri order is officially registered by the Egyptian government.

Jaririya is a Sufi order, one of the largest Sufi orders in North Sinai. The Jaririya order is named for its founder, Sheikh Eid Abu Jarir, who was a member of the Sawarka tribe and the Jarira clan, and established the order in Sinai in the 1940s. The Jarira clan resides in the vicinity of Bir al-Abed.

Al-Rawda is a village in the markaz of Bir al-Abed, in the North Sinai Governorate of Egypt. It is a center of the Jaririya Sufi order, with the majority of the population following it, and of the Sawarka tribe. The Al-Rawda mosque and its zawiya was established in the winter of 1953-1954 by Eid Abu Jarir, and it was expanded and a minaret added in about 1990.

On July 21, 2020, jihadists from Islamic State – Sinai Province (ISSP) attacked an Egyptian military camp in the village of Rabaa, on the outskirts of Bir al-Abd, Sinai Peninsula. The attack was in preparation for a larger assault on an Egyptian security complex in the town, but Egyptian forces repelled the attack. ISSP militants then fled and captured four towns near Bir el-Abd, which they occupied until October. Booby-trapped buildings in the towns then killed fourteen civilians. The attack was the most significant attack by ISSP against Egyptian forces in several years.

References

    1. 1 2 "Death Toll of North Sinai Mosque Attack Rises to 311". egyptianstreets.com. 30 November 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
    2. 1 2 3 4 Walsh, Declan; Youssef, Nour (24 November 2017). "Militants Kill 305 at Sufi Mosque in Egypt's Deadliest Terrorist Attack" . The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
    3. 1 2 3 "The Latest: Egypt says death toll in mosque attack up to 200". Associated Press. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    4. ↑ Specia, Megan (24 November 2017). "Who Are Sufi Muslims and Why Do Some Extremists Hate Them?" . New York Times. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
    5. ↑ Ahmed, Azza Hashem (27 November 2017). "Opinion: Objectives of the Al-Rawdah Mosque attack in North Sinai". Egypt Today.
    6. ↑ "Egypt's Mufti performs Friday prayers at Rawdah mosque". Egypt Today. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
    7. 1 2 "Death toll in Egypt mosque attack rises to 309". Anadolu Agency. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
    8. ↑ Kholaif, Dahlia (25 November 2017). "Death Toll Rises to More Than 305 in Mosque Attack in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula". The Wall Street Journal. wsj.com. (subscription required). Retrieved 25 November 2017. "Al Rawda mosque, located about 25 kilometers west of Al Arish, is associated with the Sawarka tribe which follows the Sufi order of Jarir, in reference to Sheikh Eid Abu Jreir, a Sufi icon who lived in Sinai decades ago."
    9. ↑ Taylor, Adam. How parts of Egypt's rugged Sinai peninsula have become a terrorist hot spot, The Washington Post (24 November 2017): "It will also reaffirm that the Sinai Peninsula is one of the deadliest places for terrorist attacks in the world. The attack near Bir al-Abd is the second-deadliest terrorist attack of 2017 to date, second only to a suicide bombing last month in Mogadishu, Somalia, that left more than 358 dead.
    10. ↑ Higazy, Mourad (24 November 2017). "Update: 305 dead, 128 injured in deadliest militant attack in Egyptian history". Mada Masr . madamasr.com. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
    11. 1 2 3 "Militants attack Egyptian mosque, kill at least 235 people". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 25 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    12. ↑ "Sufis well-rooted in al-Rawda, but is there an all-out war on them?". english.alarabiya.net. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
    13. ↑ "Inside the Rawda mosque: eyewitness accounts - Egypt Independent". Egypt Independent. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
    14. ↑ Farid, Sonia (26 November 2017). "Egypt mosque attack: Is Sufism a new target for terrorists in Sinai?" Al Arabiya – English. Retrieved 26 November 2017. "Al-Rawda Mosque is home to the Gaririya Sufi order, one of the largest in North Sinai. The Gaririya, an offshoot of the Bedouin al-Ahmadiya order, is named after its founder Sheikh Eid Abu Garir, who is considered the godfather of Sufism in the Sinai Peninsula and hails from the Sawarka tribe, the second largest in North Sinai."
    15. ↑ Kisaichi, Masatoshi (24 January 2007). "Names of Sufi orders currently recognized in Egypt". Popular Movements and Democratization in the Islamic World. Routledge. p. 59. ISBN   978-1-134-15061-8.
    16. ↑ Alexandrani, Ismail (2016). "Sinai: From Revolution to Terrorism". In Rougier, Bernard; Lacroix, Stéphane (eds.). Egypt's Revolutions: Politics, Religion, and Social Movements. New York: Palgrave MacMillan (Springer). pp. 179–196, here: 190. doi:10.1007/978-1-137-56322-4_10. ISBN   9781137563224.
    17. ↑ Lee, Ian; Smith-Spark, Laura; Alkhshali, Hamdi (25 November 2017). "Egypt hunts for killers after mosque attack leaves at least 235 dead". CNN . Retrieved 25 November 2017. Gunmen fired on people fleeing after explosions took place at the mosque between Bir al-Abed and the city of al-Arish.
    18. ↑ "Opinion: Objectives of the Al-Rawdah Mosque attack in North Sinai - Egypt Today". www.egypttoday.com. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
    19. ↑ "Deadly blast strikes mosque in Egypt's Sinai". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    20. 1 2 3 4 Lee, Ian; Smith-Spark, Laura; Alkhshali, Hamdi (24 November 2017). "Egypt hunts for killers after mosque attack leaves at least 235 dead". CNN. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    21. ↑ "Egypt mosque attackers kill 235". BBC News. 24 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    22. ↑ "Gunmen in Egypt mosque attack carried Islamic State flag, prosecutor says". Reuters. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
    23. ↑ Fahmy, Omar; Marke, Patrick (25 November 2017). "Gunmen in Egypt mosque attack carried Islamic State flag, prosecutor says". Reuters.
    24. ↑ Eltahawy, Mona (24 November 2017). "Egypt Is Failing to Deal With Its Sinai Insurgency" . The New York Times . Retrieved 25 November 2017.
    25. ↑ "Egyptian village where mosque was attacked had been warned". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on 4 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
    26. ↑ "(Jund-al-Islam) The first split in ISIS in Sinai". Center For Middle Eastern Studies.[ permanent dead link ]
    27. ↑ Lister, Tim (28 November 2017). "Why the massacre of Muslims in Sinai was too extreme for al Qaeda". CNN. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
    28. 1 2 "Egypt vows forceful response after massacre". BBC News. 25 November 2017. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
    29. ↑ "Mosque Attack In Egypt's Sinai Kills At Least 235". NPR.org. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    30. ↑ "اﻹخوان المسلمون - مصر" [Muslim Brotherhood - Egypt]. www.facebook.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    31. ↑ Ikhwanweb. "Muslim Brotherhood condemns in the strongest terms terrorist attack in #BiralAbed #Siani, offers deepest condolences to victims' families" . Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    32. ↑ Al Sherbini, Ramadan (24 November 2017). "Death toll in Egypt mosque attack rises to 235: state TV". Gulf News. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    33. ↑ "Turkey declares one day of mourning for Egyptians". Ensonhaber. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
    34. ↑ "Al-Azhar grand sheikh performs Friday prayers at Rawda mosque". Egypt Independent. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
    35. ↑ "Turkey declares one day of mourning for victims of terror attack in Egypt". Hürriyet Daily News. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
    36. ↑ "No Street Celebrations of Mawlid al-Nabi to be Held in Cairo, Giza". Egyptian Streets. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
    37. ↑ "The Terrorism Observatory harshly condemns Sinai Mosque attack". The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
    38. ↑ "Genocide report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
    39. ↑ "Sinai mosque massacre: What we know". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    40. ↑ "Cairo Int'l Film Festival organisers condemn North Sinai mosque attack but say festival to continue". Al-Ahram. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    41. ↑ "Landmarks worldwide pay tribute to victims of Egypt mosque attack". ABC News. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
    42. ↑ "Kuwaiti Towers lit up with Egypt's flag to honor martyrs". Egypt Today. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
    43. ↑ "Jordan lowers its flag to half-mast for Sinai's mosque attack victims" . Retrieved 3 December 2017.
    44. ↑ "Terror attack killing 235 Muslims praying on Friday is an 'unprecedented' atrocity in Egypt" . The Independent. 24 November 2017. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
    45. ↑ Walsh, Declan (10 February 2018). "After a Mosque Massacre, Egypt Strikes Back in Sinai" . The New York Times. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
    This page is based on this Wikipedia article
    Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
    Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.