The Latest: Egypt raises death toll in mosque attack to 305
By Associated Press
Nov 25, 2017 5:05 AM CST
Relatives of Sheikh Sulieman Ghanem, 75, center, surround him as he receives medical treatment at Suez Canal University hospital in Ismailia, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 24, 2017, after he was injured during an attack on a mosque. Militants attacked a crowded mosque during Friday prayers in the Sinai Peninsula,...   (Associated Press)

CAIRO (AP) — The Latest on developments in Egypt (all times local):

12:55 p.m.

Egypt's chief prosecutor says in a statement that the attack on a Sinai mosque has killed 305 people, including 27 children.

In a statement Saturday, Nabil Sadeq says the attack a day earlier also left 128 people wounded.

Sadeq says it was carried out by 25-30 militants who arrived at the mosque in the small town of Bir al-Abd in five all-terrain vehicles. He says the militants stationed themselves at the mosque's main door and 12 windows before opening fire on worshippers inside. They also torched seven cars belonging to the worshippers that were parked outside.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, the deadliest by Islamic extremists in Egypt's modern history. The mosque is frequented by Sufi Muslims, a mystic school of Islam that militants consider heretic.

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10:55 a.m.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has ordered the construction of a mausoleum in memory of the 235 people killed by Islamic militants inside a mosque in northern Sinai.

A presidential statement did not say where the mausoleum would stand or who would be commissioned to build it, but the decision to have one reflects the depth of grief felt by the government over the death of so many people in Friday's attack, the deadliest by Islamic extremists in Egypt's modern history. The mosque was frequented by Sufis, followers of a mystic school of Islam.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but the extremist Islamic State group has repeatedly declared that it views Sufis as heretics and vowed to rid Sinai, and Egypt, of them. Millions of Egyptians practice Sufi rituals, like reciting poetry, dancing and singing as means to be closer to God.

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9:05 a.m.

Egypt's military says warplanes have struck several vehicles used in the attack on a northern Sinai mosque that killed 235 people, destroying and killing all passengers.

The military's Saturday statement said the vehicles were hit in the vicinity of the previous day's attack on a mosque in the Sinai town of Bir al-Abd, the deadliest by Islamic extremists in Egypt's modern history.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the extremist Islamic State group has in the past vowed to rid Sinai, and Egypt, of Sufis. A local IS affiliate is spearheading the insurgency in Sinai, where government forces have battled militants for years.

The mosque was frequented by Sufis, members of a mystic movement within Islam that's viewed by extremists as heretic.

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7:15 a.m.

Militants assaulted a crowded mosque in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula during prayers in the deadliest-ever attack by Islamic extremists in Egypt.

They blasted helpless worshippers Friday with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades and blocked their escape routes. At least 235 people were killed before the assailants got away.

The attack in the troubled northern part of the Sinai targeted a mosque frequented by Sufis, members of a mystic movement within Islam.

Islamic militants, including the local affiliate of the Islamic State group, consider Sufis heretics because of their less literal interpretations of the faith.

The startling bloodshed in the town of Bir al-Abd also wounded at least 109, according to the state news agency. It offered the latest sign that the Egyptian government has failed to deter an IS-led insurgency.

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