45 dead in IS blasts at Egypt’s Coptic churches

Cairo, April 9 

At least 45 persons were killed and nearly 120 others injured in powerful blasts triggered by IS in two churches packed with worshippers celebrating Palm Sunday in Egypt’s Tanta and Alexandria cities, the deadliest attacks on the minority Coptic Christians in recent years. The first blast took place in the Coptic church of Mar Girgis, also known as St George, in the Nile delta city of Tanta, about 120 km from Cairo, killing 27 persons and injuring 78.

Security sources said the primary investigations suggest that a person put an explosive device inside the church during the Christian prayers celebrating the Palm Sunday. However, others said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. The explosion targeted the front rows in the church hall. Among those killed is Samuel George, the head of Tanta Court.

Hours later, a suicide bomber struck the Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria’s Manshyia district, police said.

Citing Health Minister Ahmed Emad, ON TV news channel said at least 18 people, including police personnel, were killed while 41 others injured in Alexandria’s suicide attack. The latest figure puts the combined death toll from the Tanta and Alexandria attacks at 45.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the twin attacks on churches on Palm Sunday. “Islamic State squads carried out the attacks on two churches in Tanta and Alexandria,” said the group’s propaganda news agency ‘Amaq’ on its social media accounts.

In a statement, the Interior ministry said a suicide bomber had planned to blow up himself using an explosive belt inside the church in Alexandria, but the security forces stopped him.

A police officer and a policewoman, as well a low-ranking police officer, were killed while preventing the suicide bomber from entering the cathedral, the ministry said.

It said Pope Tawadros II was inside the cathedral leading Palm Sunday Mass, but he was not harmed in the attack.

However, Egypt’s Coptic church said Pope Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria, had left the church just before the blast. Saint Mark’s Cathedral is the historical seat of the Pope of Alexandria, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

Meanwhile, security forces have dismantled two explosive devices at Sidi Abdel Rahim Mosque in Tanta city. The mosque, which includes a Sufi shrine, is considered the second most important mosque in city, Al-Ahram Arabic reported.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi condemned the attack and said such terrorist acts will not terrify Egyptians. He also phoned Pope Tawadros II to offer his condolences. 

Al-Azhar, the world’s highest seat of Sunni Islam, strongly condemned the attacks, calling it an “outrageous crime” against all Egyptians.

The US Embassy in Egypt condemned “the heinous, reprehensible terrorist attack against peaceful worshippers.”  “The US stands firmly with the Egyptian government and people to defeat terrorism,” the Embassy said in a statement. — PTI

Bloodshed weeks before Pope’s visit

• Palm Sunday falls on Sunday before the Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels
• The explosion comes weeks before the visit of Pope Francis to Egypt on April 28-29. Coptic Christians make up about 10 per cent of Egypt’s population of 85 million. Egypt’s Christian minority has often been targeted by Islamist militants
• Egypt has seen a wave of attacks by militants since 2013 when the military toppled president Mohammed Morsi, an elected leader who hailed from the Muslim Brotherhood, and launched a crackdown against Islamists

‘We feel targeted’

• A shift in Islamic State’s tactics targeting Christian civilians and broadening its reach into Egypt’s mainland is a potential turning point in a country trying to prevent a provincial insurgency from spiralling into wider sectarian bloodshed
• Egypt’s Christian community has felt increasingly insecure since Islamic State spread through Iraq and Syria in 2014, ruthlessly targeting religious minorities. In 2015, 21 Egyptian Christians working in Libya were killed by Islamic State
• Copts face regular attacks by Muslim neighbours, who burn their homes and churches in poor rural areas, usually in anger over an inter-faith romance or the construction of a church