At least 25 killed in explosion near Cairo’s Coptic Cathedral: Health minister
Ahram Online , Sunday 11 Dec 2016
At least 25 people were killed and 49 injured after an explosion near the Coptic Cathedral in Cairo’s Abbassyia district early Sunday morning, Minister of Health Ahmed Emad told CBC Extra satellite channel. The Coptic Church’s official spokesperson Rev Paul Halim told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that the explosion took place in the small church of St Peter and St Paul (El-Botroseya), attached to the Coptic Cathedral.
Security forces are screening the area and have blocked the main roads surrounding the cathedral. Hundreds of Muslim and Coptic protesters gathered at the cathedral, chanting against the attack on the church in a show of both anger and unity.
A number of protesters attempted to remove the cordons around the cathedral, which led to minor skirmishes with security forces. 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.
A security source told the Middle East News Agency (MENA) that the explosion was caused by a 12 kilogramme TNT bomb. Member of the Coptic Papal residence Samuel Metias told MENA that the explosion occurred in the ladies section of the St Peter and St Paul church. The St Mark Cathedral was left undamaged.
Al-Azhar, the world’s oldest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, condemned the “terrorist attack that occurred this morning in the Saint Mark Cathedral in Abbasiya, which led to killings and injuries.”In a statement, Al-Azhar underlined that targeting houses of worship and the killing of the innocents are criminal acts that violate Islamic principles.
Al-Azhar expressed full solidarity with the Egyptian Church and Egyptian Copts in the face of “terrorism.”The statement also expressed condolences to Egypt’s Coptic Pope Tawadros II, to the families of the victims, and to all the Egyptian people, wishing a speedy recovery of the injured. A church source told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that Pope Tawadros II has terminated his visit to Greece, and is on his way back to Cairo “to directly go to the location of the explosion.”
This is the third explosion this week. On Friday, an explosion killed six policemen and injured three others in Giza’s Haram district and another occurred in Kafr El-Sheikh international road, killing one civilian and injuring three policemen. There have been several minor attacks on churches following the dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adawyia sit-in protesting the overthrow of Islamist former president Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood. The worst attack against Copts in Egypt was in 2011 when 23 people were killed in an explosion at the Two Saints Church in Alexandria.
Sisi declares three days of mourning after cathedral explosion
Ahram Online , Sunday 11 Dec 2016
Egyptian president Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Sunday that the country will observe three days of mourning following a morning explosion that killed at least 25 people and injured more than 31 at Cairo’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral. “Terrorism targets the country’s and Copts and Muslims… Egypt will only be made stronger and more united in such circumstances,” the president said in a statement. The president 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.” Egypt’s Al-Azhar, the world’s oldest seat of Sunni Islamic learning, also condemned the attack. The Anglican Church in Egypt also denounced the attack, saying that “such an attack would not stop people from standing united in the face of terrorism.” The British ambassador in Egypt John Casson said he was “appalled by [the] attack on Coptic Cathedral.”The United Arab Emirates foreign minister Abdallah Bin Zayed, French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault and the US Embassy in Egypt also condemned the attack. Egypt has been battling a North Sinai-based Islamist insurgency since the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013. While militant attacks – mostly limited to army and police targets – have mainly been focused in North Sinai, some attacks have reached other parts of the country, including the capital. Egypt’s Christians have been the target of several terrorist attacks in recent years. Several minor attacks targeting churches followed the dispersal of the pro-Morsi Rabaa El-Adaweya sit-in in 2013. The largest attack targeting Christians in recent years took place in 2011, when 23 people were killed in an explosion at the Two Saints Church in Alexandria.