Four hundred worshippers locked eyes with the Imam during a Friday sermon, then out of the blue, they were struck by a hail of bullets, killing them all and sparing no one. 305 worshippers were killed in cold blood within almost half an hour, including 27 children, while 128 were injured, in one of the most abominable terrorist crimes in Egypt.
Not only did the attackers kill the worshippers, but they also set their cars on fire before fleeing in their SUVs. That was the scene of the massacre of the worshippers at Al-Rawda Mosque, located 40 kilometres from Bir Al-Abd city and 50 kilometres from Arish, North Sinai, Egypt.
The public prosecution investigations revealed that around 30 militants carrying the flags of terrorist Daesh besieged the mosque and shot the worshippers from different directions as they gathered for Friday prayers on November 24, 2017.
The Egyptian authorities promptly launched a large-scale military and security operation in North and Central Sinai as military aircrafts conducted airstrikes on South Sheikh Zuwayed, North Sinai. Meanwhile, the Egyptian military announced launching airstrikes against targets in the mountains of Bir Al-Abd which resulted in the destruction of vehicles and hotspots associated with the attack as well as two drones and two vehicles carrying 15 militants involved in the attack.
Facts of the Attack
Al-Rawda massacre is the most savage shift in the crimes of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which was linked to al-Qaeda, but defected and pledged allegiance to terrorist Daesh in 2014. It is now known as the Islamic State Sinai Province (ISSP). ISSP’s terrorist operations have mainly targeted armed forces, police, and churches in Egypt, then added mosques to the list.
Even though the terrorists who attacked the mosque did not hide their affiliations, whereby they carried Daesh flags on their cars, the organization did not claim responsibility for the massacre. Despite the spreading news about the magnitude and details of the attack on social media, the organization denied any involvement in the atrocious attack. However, channels associated with al-Qaeda shared an audio recording on Telegram featuring a conversation in which a Daesh member boasted about the attack and provided detailed information to his accomplice.
Observers interpreted Daesh’s refraining from officially claiming responsibility for the massacre by stating that the terrorist attack was probably carried out without the approval of the central leadership and was rather initiated locally by ISSP in the light of division within its ranks. Thus, the attack was partly meant to appease the leadership of the parent organization. The mastermind of the massacre was the branch led by Abu Osama al-Masri and Abu Saleh Zaraa, and sponsored by Abu Hajar al-Hashemi, the de facto leader of ISSP, who was appointed by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to run Daesh in Egypt. Abu Osama al-Masri’s branch tried to blame the dreadful attack on someone else in a fake statement attributed to Sons of Jesus Coptic organization, claiming responsibility for the massacre as a response to the bombing of churches and targeting of Copts, to get away with their crime and trigger a sectarian war.
Observers argue that the capacity of terrorist organizations to target armed forces and policemen is in decline since security forces had foiled over 90% of Daesh’s terrorist operations via pre-emptive strikes. This made the organization shift towards more vulnerable targets, such as civilians, to assert its presence and flex its muscles, thus attacking Al-Rawda Mosque.
Targeting Mosques
Al-Rawda Mosque, attacked by Daesh terrorists, was home to the Jaririya Sufi order, one of the largest Sufi orders in North Sinai, which established over 200 mosques and Holy Quran memorization centers. Jaririya was the main target of Daesh terrorist operations and threats, considering its large-scale dominion and the affiliation of most of its figures to the Sawarka tribe, which announced its support for the army and police in their fight against Daesh. It was no surprise that the majority of the victims of the massacre were members of the Sawarka tribe, one of the largest and most prestigious tribes in Sinai. The Jarira tribe, descending from the Sawarka, resides in Al-Rawda village. It is famously named after its founder, Sheikh Eid Abu Jarir, the godfather of the largest Sufi order, Ahmadi Jaririya, that was founded in the 1960s.
Terrorist Daesh threatened to target the facilities and figures of the Jarira tribe and other Sufi followers across North Sinai. In 2013, Daesh terrorists bombed the shrine of Sheikh Selim in Mazar village near Al-Rawda, and another one in Maghara in Hasna, Central Sinai, in the same year.
In 2016, terrorist Daesh abducted and beheaded Sheikh Sulaiman Abu Haraz and Sheikh Qutayfan Al-Mansoori, two Sufi elders in North Sinai, and claimed responsibility for the incident.
Before Al-Rawda massacre, terrorist ISSP members visited the mosque and warned worshippers against Sufi practices. Thus, targeting the Sufi Zawiya across the mosque was only expected. Accordingly, the road leading to it was closed. However, they were not expected to target all worshippers at the central mosque of the village.