Palm Sunday Massacre
ISIS claims responsibility for Christian church bombings in Egypt that killed 43
ISIS claimed responsibility for bombings that killed 43 at two Coptic churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday -- strikes against a vulnerable minority on one of the most important days on the Christian calendar.
In a statement issued on the Telegram messaging platform and circulated by several ISIS supporters, the militant group identified the suicide bombers as Egyptian nationals. Egyptian authorities have not confirmed the bombers’ nationalities. ISIS warned of more attacks in its statement.
“The Crusaders and their apostate followers must be aware that the bill between us and them is very large, and they will be paying it like a river of blood from their sons, if God is willing,” the group said in Arabic.
A three-month state of emergency will be declared following the bombing, after legal and constitutional measures have been completed, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said on Sunday.
How the attacks unfolded
The bombings came on the Sunday before Easter, the day that marks the start of Holy Week for Christians.
The first blast ripped through a Palm Sunday service at St George’s Church in the northern city of Tanta, killing 27 people and wounding 78 others, state TV reported. An explosive device had been planted under a seat in the main prayer hall, it said.
News footage from Tanta showed people gathering at the church, singing hymns. The video then quickly switched to bars as harrowing screams and cries echo in the background.
“Everything is destroyed inside the church,” said Peter Kamel, who saw the aftermath of the bombing. Its marble pillars were covered with blood, he said.
Mr Kamel said that most of the injured appeared to be priests and members of the choir. Not long afterward, at least 16 people were killed and 41 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack outside St Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, according to two state news outlets.
Police officers who had been posted outside the church stopped a man wearing an explosive belt from entering the church, the Interior Ministry said. At least two officers, a man and a woman, were killed, along with civilians and other police staff.
Egyptian blogger Maged Butter said he saw five or six ambulances and bloodstains 100 metres away from the site of the explosion, which happened near the church gate. He said women were crying and looking for their loved ones and were yelling at police for “not protecting” them.
“Every now and then, I see a person crying -- I think they are Christian -- and they keep saying: ‘have you seen my family? Have you seen my family?’” Mr Butter said.
Egypt’s response
The Egyptian President declared three days of nationwide mourning following the suicide bombings.
In response to the attack, the country will form a supreme council to counter terrorism and extremism, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said on state television Sunday after an emergency meeting of the country’s National Defence Council.
“We have to pay attention because of Egypt and Egypt’s future. We know this is a big sacrifice but we are capable of facing it,” he said. “The attack will not undermine the resolve and true will of the Egyptian people to counter the forces of evil, but will only harden their determination to move forward on their trajectory to realise security, stability and comprehensive development,” the President said in a statement.