A 12-kilogram TNT bomb caused the explosion at a key Coptic church in Cairo on Sunday morning, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported, citing security sources.
The blast ripped through the church in the city’s Abbassyia district early Sunday morning. At least 25 people are dead and dozens injured, according to the government-sponsored Al-Ahram news outlet, citing the health ministry.
The explosion took place in the small church of St. Peter and St. Paul attached to the St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, said the Coptic Church’s official spokesperson, Rev. Paul Halim, according to Al-Ahram.
The attack targeted one of the most symbolic religious sites for Copts, an ethno-religious group centered in Egypt.
The Coptic Orthodox Church released a statement on its Facebook page, saying in part:
“As we are bereaved by this violence and terrorism that attacks worshipers, we pray for these martyrs and for the wounded. The Egyptian church stresses on persevering national unity that keeps all Egyptians on Egypt’s blessed land.”
Credits: CNN
May God have mercy on
us; why all these
bombing here and there.