The scene was a familiar one, replicated in hundreds of thousands of mosques across the Middle East – a community gathering peacefully for Friday prayers, meeting and greeting one another as they bowed in devotion. Then attackers burst into the Rawda mosque in the Egyptian town of Bir Al Abd to throw grenades in the prayer hall and spray the congregation with gunfire. The house of worship was instantly turned into a scene of carnage, but the horror did not end there. As the terrified masses tried to flee the Sufi mosque, up to 30 masked gunmen lay in wait outside, ready to pick them off. The shocking death toll of 305, with another 128 injured, wiped out a tenth of Rawda's population and has left an entire country reeling.
This was the worst terrorist atrocity in the modern history of Egypt. Egyptians are shocked and angry. They have witnessed gut-wrenching spectacles of bloodshed in the past – many of them directed at the country's Coptic Christian minority – but none as gruesome or as callously orchestrated to cause maximum harm as the one on Friday.
The attack, which bears all the hallmarks of ISIL and is being linked to the affiliated Sinai Province, shows no one is safe from the ruthless group, which has been all but been driven from Iraq and Syria but whose fighters keep forming pockets of insurgency and reappearing across the region, targeting people of all faiths. The Sinai Peninsula has long been listed by ISIL as a potential target because of the number of Sufis living there.
ISIL, committed to imposing its own warped interpretation of Islam, has in the past expressed its hatred for Sufism and its practices. Egypt's Sinai region, where the Rawda mosque is based, has encountered its hate-filled doctrine before; just a year ago, the organisation beheaded a centenarian Sufi cleric in public. In November last year, ISIL claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Sufi shrine in Pakistan's Balochistan province, in which more 50 people were killed. The terrorist group must be driven out of its remote hiding places, once and for all.
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Read more
Egypt mosque attack death toll rises to 305
Egypt's ISIL affiliate kills 10 people in Sinai convoy attack
ISIL is on the brink of physical defeat, but the fight is far from over
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Since those attacks, the group has suffered defeat after defeat, before being driven out in recent months from its strongholds in Iraq and Syria. But, as these pages have warned in the past, defeating ISIL is not the same thing as destroying its hideous ideology. Its fighters can simply move on to other terrorist outfits, or reconstitute themselves as guerrilla forces. Either way, the challenge before the world remains formidable.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi was swift to act by launching military airstrikes on "terrorist outposts" within hours of the attack. He has vowed to deploy "brute force" if necessary to deal with insurgents in the Sinai region who, animated by ISIL's nihilistic ideology, have posed a threat to Egypt's security for years. "The army and police will avenge our martyrs and return security and stability with force in the coming short period," the president announced shortly after an emergency meeting with his top security team on Friday. It will take a sustained campaign to restore law and order to the Sinai Peninsula, but the culprits behind Friday's cold-blooded attack deserve nothing less than the full might of Egypt's justice system.
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Where to donate in the UAE
The Emirates Charity Portal
You can donate to several registered charities through a “donation catalogue”. The use of the donation is quite specific, such as buying a fan for a poor family in Niger for Dh130.
The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments
The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.
Al Noor Special Needs Centre
You can donate online or order Smiles n’ Stuff products handcrafted by Al Noor students. The centre publishes a wish list of extras needed, starting at Dh500.
Beit Al Khair Society
Beit Al Khair Society has the motto “From – and to – the UAE,” with donations going towards the neediest in the country. Its website has a list of physical donation sites, but people can also contribute money by SMS, bank transfer and through the hotline 800-22554.
Dar Al Ber Society
Dar Al Ber Society, which has charity projects in 39 countries, accept cash payments, money transfers or SMS donations. Its donation hotline is 800-79.
Dubai Cares
Dubai Cares provides several options for individuals and companies to donate, including online, through banks, at retail outlets, via phone and by purchasing Dubai Cares branded merchandise. It is currently running a campaign called Bookings 2030, which allows people to help change the future of six underprivileged children and young people.
Emirates Airline Foundation
Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.
Emirates Red Crescent
On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.
Gulf for Good
Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.
Noor Dubai Foundation
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).
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Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
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Rating: 3.5/5
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Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
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States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
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Dubai World Cup prize money
Group 1 (Purebred Arabian) 2000m Dubai Kahayla Classic - $750,000
Group 2 1,600m(Dirt) Godolphin Mile - $750,000
Group 2 3,200m (Turf) Dubai Gold Cup – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Turf) Al Quoz Sprint – $1,000,000
Group 2 1,900m(Dirt) UAE Derby – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Dirt) Dubai Golden Shaheen – $1,500,000
Group 1 1,800m (Turf) Dubai Turf – $4,000,000
Group 1 2,410m (Turf) Dubai Sheema Classic – $5,000,000
Group 1 2,000m (Dirt) Dubai World Cup– $12,000,000
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Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Second ODI
England 322-7 (50 ovs)
India 236 (50 ovs)
England win by 86 runs
Next match: Tuesday, July 17, Headingley
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