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At least 32 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in two separate Palm Sunday bombing attacks at Coptic Christian churches in Egypt.
UPDATE: 9:04 A.M. ET
https://twitter.com/RT_com/status/851056466106691584
What Happened?
Two explosions at separate Coptic Christian churches is Egypt have killed at least 32 and injure at least 100. The first explosion took place at a church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, where at least 26 people were killed and 71 were wounded.
https://twitter.com/Nervana_1/status/851048302753787905
Television images showed the inside of the church, where a large group of people gathered around what looked to be dead and bloody bodies covered with papers.
A second attack was reported in Alexandria which left at least six dead and 33 injured.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
UPDATE 8:47 A.M. ET – Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the church bombings.
https://twitter.com/AP/status/851054020261289984
“Either a bomb was planted or someone blew himself up,” provincial governor Ahmad Deif told the state-run Nile TV channel, Sky News reported.
Another explosive device was found at another church later. Bomb squads were on the scene to dismantle it.
https://twitter.com/BasedMonitored/status/851048249683300352
These attacks, which come just a week before Easter, mark another in a string of incidents targeting the country’s minority Christian population (around 10% of the country). Islamic extremists are thought to be behind many of these attacks.
Grand Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, head of Egypt’s Al-Azhar — the leading center of learning in Sunni Islam — condemned the attack, calling it a “despicable terrorist bombing that targeted the lives of innocents.”
One Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a church in Cairo in December that killed 30 people, mostly women, in addition to a string of killings in the Sinai Peninsula. The group has threatened future attacks as well.
A militant group called Liwa al-Thawra claimed responsibility for an April 1 bomb attack that targeted a police training center in Tanta, which wounded 16 people. The group is believed to be linked to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood but has largely avoided attacks on Egypt’s Christian population.
https://twitter.com/UrgentNews5/status/851047862112837632
The country has seen a significant rise in extremist militancy since the 2013 military coup that overthrew an elected Islamist president.
Tanta, Egypt
Tanta, Egypt is north of Cairo and 130 km (81 mi) southeast of Alexandria. The capital of Gharbia Governorate, it is a center for the cotton-ginning industry. One of the major railway lines goes through Tanta.
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