Attacks disrupt start of Holy Week at two Nile Delta churches, including where Coptic pope was celebrating Mass.
ISIS has claimed responsibility for attacks at two Coptic Orthodox churches in Egypt’s Nile Delta that killed dozens of worshipers and injured about 100 more during Palm Sunday services.
Reuters reports more details on the bombing in Tanta at St. George Church, which killed at least 27 and injured at least 78. CNN reports more details (as does Reuters) on the Alexandria bombing at St. Mark’s Cathedral, which killed at least 16 and injured 41.
Pope Tawadros II was celebrating Mass at the Alexandria cathedral, which serves as his historical seat. But the patriarch was unharmed, reports AsiaNews.
The attacks come shortly after about 100 Christian families fled their homes in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula amid a string of murders and threats by Islamist extremists.
The church bombings are the deadliest since a December attack at a chapel of the flagship Coptic cathedral in Cairo killed dozens on the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday. That attack on the spiritual center of Egypt’s Orthodox church was the deadliest modern terrorism against Egyptian Christians until today’s attacks.
In 2011, a church attack on New Year’s Eve killed 23 worshipers.
This post will be updated.
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