Prayer services resume at bomb-hit Egypt mosque
Last week’s attack on mosque in Sinai Peninsula was deadliest in Egypt’s modern history
People attend the Friday prayers, at al-Rawda mosque at Bir al-Abd town near Arish, 400km northeast of Cairo, Egypt, 01 December 2017. ( Stringer - Anadolu Agency )
Al Qahirah
By Sobhi Mujahid and Ahmed Mohamed
CAIRO
Prayer services resumed at the Al-Rawda Mosque in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula on Friday one week after it was bombed by unknown attackers, killing more than 300 people.
State television broadcast Friday prayers at the mosque, which were attended by senior officials including Sheikh of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb, Egypt’s Grand Mufti Shouki Allam, and North Sinai Governor Abdel-Fattah Harhour.
The Friday sermon was delivered by Abdul-Fattah al-Awari, dean of Al-Azhar University’s religion faculty, who stressed the sanctity of places of worship and condemned terrorism.
In the wake of last week’s deadly bombing, security forces had closed all main roads in North Sinai province and tightened security around the mosque.
Last Friday, unknown attackers bombed the mosque -- located in the North Sinai town of Bir al-Abd -- before opening fire on fleeing worshippers.
A total of 305 people were killed in the attack, according to official figures.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which is considered the deadliest in Egypt’s modern history.
The Sinai Peninsula has been the epicenter of a militant insurgency since mid-2013, when the army ousted Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, in a bloody military coup.
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