Militants Kill More Than 230 in Sinai Mosque Attack

 

Egyptian media say suspected militants¹ have killed more than 230 people in an attack on a mosque² in the northern Sinai Peninsula.

Egypt’s state-operated news agency reported that officials said the attack took place in a town west of the provincial³ capital, el-Arish.

The officials said extremists targeted the al-Rawdah mosque during Friday prayers.

Arab media reported that militants in four-wheel-drive vehicles opened fire on people inside the mosque after an explosion. Media reports said this information came from a man who claimed he was inside the religious center at the time of the attack.

Eyewitnesses⁴ said the militants fired on emergency rescue vehicles as workers tried to take the wounded to hospitals.

Egyptian military airplanes reportedly attacked suspected terrorist targets in the Sinai following the mosque attack.

The Egyptian government has declared three days of mourning.

Shortly after the attack, Israel expressed its condolences to Egypt. Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty in 1979 and have cooperated closely on security issues since then.

In the United States, President Donald Trump⁵ denounced the attack. He said, “The world cannot tolerate terrorism, we must defeat them militarily and discredit⁶ the extremist ideology⁷ that forms the basis of their existence!” Trump’s comments appeared in a statement on Twitter.

Egypt's security forces have been fighting supporters of the self-declared Islamic State group, mostly in the northern Sinai. Militants have killed hundreds of police officers and soldiers since fighting there intensified⁸ three years ago.

In July, more than 20 soldiers were killed when vehicles carrying bombs exploded at two military positions in the Sinai. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for those attacks.

The militants have also carried out attacks beyond the Sinai, striking Christian⁹ religious centers and civilians¹⁰ in other parts of Egypt. In May, gunmen killed 29 people in an attack on a Coptic Christian group as it was traveling by bus to a remote desert monastery¹¹.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

condolence – n. sympathy

tolerate – v. to accept or permit

beyond – adj. outside; away from

monastery – n. a home or center for religious workers

remote - adj. far from someone or something

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

3 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 discredit   

vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑

参考例句：

• Their behaviour has bought discredit on English football.他们的行为败坏了英国足球运动的声誉。
• They no longer try to discredit the technology itself.他们不再试图怀疑这种技术本身。

7 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

8 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

11 monastery   

n.修道院，僧院，寺院

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• She was appointed the superior of the monastery two years ago.两年前她被任命为这个修道院的院长。