Al-Rawda Mosque Attack
Why did ISIS do this?
This is Part 17 of 20 of my ongoing series covering some of the worst terrorist attacks in modern history and the innocent people whose lives were stolen.
Why would ISIS murder fellow Muslims? Well, for many reasons (according to them), but this one might shock you; read til the end.
There is a particular kind of evil in attacking people while they pray, as they do to Jews in synagogues all across the West. Houses of worship represent the last place on earth where a person should have to think about dying. It is, by definition, a place of surrender. Of peace. A safe haven.
On November 24, 2017, ISIS didn’t care about any of that.
Friday Prayers
At 1:50 in the afternoon, the al-Rawda mosque in the village of Al-Rawda, east of Bir al-Abed in Egypt’s North Sinai Governorate, was attacked by roughly 40 gunmen during Friday prayers. It was a packed house. Families, elders, children.
The attackers arrived in five SUVs, took positions across from the mosque’s door and windows. They had thought this through. They had planned for escape routes. They had planned for ambulances.
Several bombs and rocket-propelled grenades went off as worshippers tried to flee. The gunmen set fire to cars parked outside the mosque and shot at arriving ambulances to hinder escape.
They were there to kill everyone inside, as is always the case with jihadis.
Survivors described intense gunfire ringing out as the mosque was shaken by blasts, and children screaming as their parents were mowed down. A stampede occurred as people rushed for an exit, while others tried desperately to force their way out of windows.
A 17-year-old boy, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, recalled the scene: “I saw a man in army uniform. He opened fire on us. The bullets were ricocheting off the walls, hitting people in the legs and back.”
When the shooting stopped, he went inside to find his father. His father was on his side. It looked like he had been shot up close in the head when he was already down. The boy said the entire attack lasted roughly an hour.
