Past deadly Easter attacks

Here are some previous cases of deadly violence on Easter: APRIL 9, 2017: Two churches are bombed on Palm Sunday, killing 45 people. The attacks are in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt where Coptic Pope Tawadros II had been leading a service.

He is unharmed. The Islamic State claims responsiblity. MARCH 27, 2016: 75 people, including many children, are killed and hundreds are injured when a bomb packed with ball bearings explodes near a popular park in Lahore where Christians were celebrating Easter.

The attack is claimed by the Pakistani Taliban faction, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.

APRIL 8, 2012: 41 people are killed in a car bomb attack on Easter Sunday near a church in Kaduna, Nigeria, a key cultural and economic centre in the north that has been hit by the Islamist group Boko Haram.

JAN 27, 2019: 21 people are killed in a double suicide attack at a Catholic cathedral in the remote Muslim-majority island of Jolo, the Philippines. The IS group claims responsiblity. Authorities attribute it to the AjangAjang faction, a group linked to the Jolo-based Abu Sayyaf Islamist group. MAY 26, 2017: 29 people including children are gunned down by masked gunmen in central Minya targeting a bus carrying Coptic Christians travelling to the Saint Samuel monastery in Egypt.

The IS claims responsibility for the attack. DEC 11, 2016: As Coptic Christians are in mid-prayer at their church in Cairo, Egypt, a suicide attack tears through the building killing 29 people. IS claims responsibility. MARCH 4, 2016: 16 people are shot dead at a Catholic retirement home in Aden, Yemen, including four nuns of the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Local authorities blame IS for the attack. MARCH 15, 2015: Twin suicide attacks against churches in Lahore, Pakistan, during Sunday service kill 17 people and leave 70 injured.

The attack is claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.