Islamic State raises hand for Coptic blast
The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for bombing two Egyptian churches as worshippers gathered to mark Palm Sunday, killing at least 38 people in the deadliest attacks on the Coptic Christian minority in recent memory.
The attacks followed a Cairo church bombing in December and came weeks ahead of a planned visit by Catholic Pope Francis intended to show support for the country’s Christian minority.
The first bombing struck the Mar Girgis church in the city of Tanta north of Cairo, killing 27 people, the health ministry said.
Emergency services had scrambled to the scene when another bombing rocked the Saint Mark’s church in Alexandria where Coptic Pope Tawadros II had been leading a Palm Sunday service.
Eleven people were killed in that attack, which the interior ministry said was caused by a suicide bomber who blew himself up when police prevented him from entering the church.
The ministry said Tawadros was unharmed, and a church official said he had left the church before the bombing.
At least 78 people were wounded in Tanta and another 40 in Alexandria, the health ministry said.
Egyptian officials denounced the violence as an attempt to sow division in the country, while Francis sent his “deep condolences” to Tawadros.
IS claimed that its “squads” carried out both attacks, in a statement by its self-styled Amaq news agency published on social media accounts.
“The explosion took place in the front rows, near the altar, during the mass,” Gen Tarek Atiya, the deputy to Egypt’s interior minister in charge of relations with the media, said.
“I heard the blast and came running. I found people torn up ... some people, only half of their bodies remained,” said Nabil Nader, who lives in front of the Tanta church.
The worshippers had been celebrating Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days of the Christian calendar, marking the triumphant entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem. Francis, who is due to visit Cairo on April 28-29, offered prayers for the victims.
Copts, who make up about one-tenth of Egypt’s population of more than 92-million, have been targeted by several attacks in recent months. Jihadists and Islamists accuse Copts of supporting the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Mursi in 2013, which ushered in a deadly crackdown on his supporters. In December, a suicide bombing claimed by IS killed 29 worshippers during Sunday mass in Cairo. The group later released a video threatening Egypt’s Christians with more attacks.