Egypt mosque attack: Bomb and gun assault in North Sinai kills at least 235 people - as it happened

Welcome to The Independent's live blog on the developing gun and bomb attack on a mosque in Egypt.

At least 75 people have been killed after suspected militants set off a bomb and opened fire at a mosque in Egypt's restive northern Sinai province.

Reports of the death toll continue to vary, with Egyptian state media saying at least 54 people have been killed and 75 wounded. Michael Horowitz, a geopolitical and security analyst, says this would still make it the deadliest attack against civilians in Sinai since the emergence of Isis there.

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The attack on Friday targeted supporters of the security forces attending prayers there, two eyewitnesses and a security source said.

Eyewitnesses at Al Rawdah mosque in Bir al-Abed, near Arish city, told local media that those who were not killed in the blast and tried to run away were gunned down. 

The death toll has been revised down to 54.

Hebda Farouk Mahfouz, an Egyptian reporter for the Washington Post, says no group has claimed responsibility yet.

Lizzie Dearden, The Independent's Home Affairs and Security Correspondent, has some background on the attack:

Isis' affiliate in the region calls itself Wilayat Sinai and is predominantly made up of fighters from the local insurgent group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which pledged allegiance to Isis after sending emissaries to Syria in 2014.

Its attacks have dominantly focused on police and security checkpoints, but the faction claimed responsibility for the downing of Metrojet Flight 9268 in 2015.

The Russian passenger plane was flying from Sharm el-Sheikh to St Petersburg when it went down in the desert, killing all 224 people on board after Isis claimed it detonated an IED hidden inside a soft drinks can.

The Sinai Peninsula has been identified among several potential bases for Isis' external operations following the loss of its self-declared "caliphate" in Syria and Iraq.

At least 85 people are now confirmed dead, according to Egyptian state news agency Mena.