NO FILIPINOS were hurt in Friday's deadliest terrorist attack at a crowded mosque in Cairo, Egypt, government officials said.
The Philippine Embassy in Cairo said initial reports indicate that there are no Filipinos among the casualties in the attack.
But it warned the 5,183 registered Filipinos in Egypt from going to the Northern Sinai Region where the risk of terrorist attacks is high.
Ambassador Leslie Baja said the attack took place at the Al-Rawdah mosque in Bir Al-Abed Province, about 300 kilometers northeast of Cairo.
She said the attack involved at least one suicide bomber and several gunmen who targeted Sufi Muslim worshipers attending Friday afternoon prayers.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano condemned the attack in the mosque, saying this is "totally unacceptable."
“We join the people and government of Egypt and the rest of the world in mourning the loss of many innocent lives in the tragedy,” Cayetano said.
“Attacks on any place of worship are totally unacceptable,” Cayetano said, as he echoed President Rodrigo Duterte’s desire to promote interfaith harmony as one course of action that the international community can take to counter violent extremism.
“The incident in the Northern Sinai today must reinforce the resolve not only of the various governments but also the major faiths around the world to work together and fight these forces of terror,” Cayetano said. (VLA/SunStar Philippines)