On Friday, as hundreds of worshipers gathered to pray in Al-Rawda mosque in Egypt’s North Sinai, a group of unidentified individuals opened fire and used explosives, killing at least 305 people and injuring more than 100 others. Following the attack, a number of media organisations used the word ‘militant’ to describe the attackers, while others used the word ‘terrorist’. Internationally, prominent news organisations used the word ‘militant’. The New York Times headline stated ‘Militants Kill 235 at Sufi Mosque in Egypt’s Deadliest Terrorist Attack’. Meanwhile, the BBC referred to the attackers as militants throughout its article. Locally, the majority of Arabic-language media organisations used the Arabic word for ‘terrorist’. Ahram Online, an English publication of the state-owned Al-Ahram, referred to the attackers as ‘gunmen’. Meanwhile, both Daily News Egypt and Mada Masr followed international media in using the word ‘militant’. The use of the word ‘militant’ as opposed to ‘terrorist’ led to some debate on social media. Some Egyptians argued that the use of the word ‘militant’ was inaccurate and that the attackers should be described as terrorists. What is a militant? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines militant as an individual ‘engaged…
