Twenty-five people were killed after an explosion inside a church attached to the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo early Sunday, one of the deadliest attacks on Egyptian Christians in years.
Minister of Health Ahmed Emad said another 49, most of whom are believed to be Copts, were injured in the blast that took place in Abbassyia district near downtown.
“Twenty-nine people were discharged from hospitals after receiving treatment. Three people are still in a critical condition,” the health ministry said in a statement.
A bomb went off in the small church of St Peter and St Paul (El-Botroseya), the Coptic Church’s spokesman Rev Paul Halim told Al-Ahram Arabic news website.
The church was built in 1911 on the tomb of Boutros Ghali, who was Egypt’s prime minister from 1908 to 1910.
The blast occurred in the church’s ladies section, according to local media. The St Mark Cathedral was left undamaged. “The explosion was caused by a 12 kilogramme TNT bomb,” a security source told state news agency MENA.
Security forces have blocked the main roads surrounding the cathedral. Hospitals where the injured are being treated, including Dar El-Shefaa and Ain Shams University Hospital, have called for blood donations, while calls on social media for people to donate have gone viral.
No one has claimed responsibility for the bombing so far. Islamist groups are waging an insurgency against the Egyptian state in North Sinai and sporadic attacks have occurred in Cairo and other areas since Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was toppled in mid 2013.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said that the country will observe three days of mourning following the explosion. “Terrorism targets the country’s Copts and Muslims… Egypt will only be made stronger and more united in such circumstances,” President Sisi said in a statement.
He vowed to hold accountable the assailants and put on trial all who have “incited, facilitated or participated” in the terrorist attack.
The president described the Sunday church attack – as well as the Friday blast in Giza that left six policemen dead – as part of “a war against the great Egyptian people.”
