Egypt raises security alert as mosque death toll rises to 305

Bloomberg

Egypt raised its security alert to the highest level on Saturday as it emerged that the IS may have been behind a mosque attack in the restive north Sinai in which more than 300 people died, the most lethal single assault in the country’s
recent history.
Hours after the midday attack on Friday, the military said it launched overnight airstrikes that destroyed vehicles believed to have been used in the gun and bomb attack on the mosque west of the city of Al-Arish.
Initial investigations showed the attackers hoisted the IS flag during the attack, which was carried out by 25 to 30 militants, the public prosecutor’s office said in a statement. The militants, who stormed the mosque, blocked
the door and windows of the building and opened fire on worshipers with automatic weapons, according to the statement. They
arrived in five sport-utility vehicles, it said. At least 27 children were among the dead, and more than 100 other people were wounded, authorities said. Friday’s attack is the biggest of its kind in recent memory. The last comparable assault took place in 2015, when the IS affiliate bombed a Russian passenger plane carrying holidaymakers from the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, killing 224 people.