Africa : Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi has condemned the extremist attack on a mosque in the troubled Sinai Peninsula, calling it “criminal” and “cowardly” and expressing condolences to the victims and their families.

El-Sissi said that the attack “will not go unpunished” and that Egypt will persevere with its war on terrorism. The suffering of the victims was not in vain, he added, and will only “add to our insistence” to combat terrorism.

Officials said militants in four off-road vehicles bombed the mosque and fired on worshippers during the sermon segment of Friday prayers, killing at least 230 people and injuring about 130.

The militants attacked the crowded mosque during Friday prayers, settling off explosives, spraying worshippers with gunfire in the deadliest ever attack on Egyptian civilians by Islamic extremists.

President Donald Trump is denouncing what he’s calling the “Horrible and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent and defenceless worshippers in Egypt”.

The al-Rawdah mosque, largely attended by Sufi Muslims in the town of Bir al-Abd, is 40 km from the North Sinai provincial capital of El-Arish.