Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 26) — The Philippines denounces the terror attack on a mosque in Egypt, which has killed at least 305 and injured 128 others as of Sunday.
“The Philippines strongly condemns this cowardly act perpetrated against our Muslim brothers and sisters in Egypt,” Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement.
The DFA said the Philippine Embassy in Cairo is monitoring the incident, where there were no reported Filipino casualties.
The Philippine Embassy in Egypt warned the 5,183 registered Filipinos from going to the Northern Sinai Region because of the high risk of terrorist attacks.
Cayetano said the incident in the Northern Sinai must reinforce the resolve of governments to work together and fight terrorism.
“Attacks on any place of worship are totally unacceptable,” he said.
Between 25 to 30 armed men carried out the assault on the Al-Rawdah Sufi mosque in Bir-al-Abed, according to a statement from the public prosecutor read out on Egyptian state-run news channel Nile TV.
The mosque, which is about 300 kilometers northeast of capital Cairo, is known as the birthplace of an important Sufi cleric. Sufism is a mystical branch of Islam that some jihadists consider heretical.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi vowed to go after the terrorists with “brute force.”
READ: Egypt mosque attack death toll climbs above 300
