305 people were killed in an attack on a mosque in the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypt’s modern history.
CAIRO – Egypt’s president has given his security forces a three-month deadline to restore “security and stability” in troubled northern Sinai following a massacre by Islamic militants there that killed 305 people last week.
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi spoke during a televised address on Wednesday in a ceremony marking the birthday of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
The massacre, which took place as worshippers were praying in a village mosque on Friday, was the deadliest terrorist attack in Egypt’s modern history.
El-Sissi authorized his new chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Mohammed Farid Hegazy, to use “all brute force” against the militants, who have been battling security forces in Sinai for years.
Hegazy was appointed last month. He rose up from his front-row seat and stood in rigid attention as el-Sissi, a general-turned-president, addressed him.
