Egypt mosque attack: Bomb and gun assault in North Sinai kills at least 235 people - as it happened
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Your support makes all the difference.At least 235 people have been killed after suspected militants set off a bomb and opened fire at a mosque in Egypt's restive northern Sinai province.
The attack on Friday targeted supporters of the security forces attending prayers there, two eyewitnesses and a security source said.
Eyewitnesses at Al Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed, near Arish city, told local media ambulances rushed to take the wounded to nearby hospitals.
A total of 235 people had been confirmed dead, a health ministry spokesperson said, adding it is feared the toll will rise.
Egypt has been fighting a vicious Isis insurgency in Sinai for the last three years. Friday's attack comes after a spate of recent bombings targeting the police and army.
While most militant attacks target the security forces, hundreds of civilians have been killed in the violence. Attacks outside the region have targeted Egypt's Christian minority.
President Abdel Fattah al Sisi has convened an emergency security meeting in Cairo.
Cairo's international airport has boosted security following the attack, with more troops seen patrolling passenger halls, conducting searches and manning checkpoints at airport approaches, AP reports.
The death toll now stands at 184, according to Egyptian state television.
Boris Johnson, British Foreign Secretary, has taken to Twitter to condemn the attack:
The Office of the President of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, has tweeted:
Israel has sent condolences to Egypt. Naftali Bennett, Israel's education minister, said after the attack that this "a time for international unity in the war on terror wherever it presents itself: Russia, Europe, the US, Israel and the Arab World — we have all been hurt by terror and must unite in our battle against it."
Former MP Mustafa Bakri has branded the situation 'catastrophic' on Twitter.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has convened an emergency meeting with his defence and interior ministers and intelligence chief, the presidency's Facebook page and state television said.
Amro Ali, a sociology professor at the American University in Cairo, has this to say about today's attack:
Theresa May, British prime minister, has condemned the "evil and cowardly" act.
A security source has told Saudi TV news channel Al Arabiya that military and police are fighting the gunmen while residents of the village of Rawda have refused to provide shelter to the militants.
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