Two blasts targeting Coptic Christians in Egypt on Palm Sunday have killed at least 45 people, officials say.
An
explosion at St George's Coptic church in Tanta killed 29 people. Hours
later, a blast outside St Mark's Coptic church in Alexandria left 16
dead.
So-called Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the
explosions, the latest in a series of attacks targeting the Christian
minority in the country.
President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi ordered military deployments across Egypt.
In
a statement, he said the army would be sent to protect "vital and
important infrastructure". The government announced three days of
mourning.
In Alexandria, Pope Tawadros II, head of the Coptic
Church, had been attending Mass inside the church targeted but was not
hurt, state media reported.
Four police officers, including one
policewoman, were among those killed, the interior ministry said. The
suicide bomber blew himself up after they stopped him from entering the
church.
The first explosion in Tanta, 94km (58 miles) north of Cairo, took
place near the altar of the church. It remains unclear if it was also
caused by a suicide bomber.
"I saw pieces of body parts and broken
seats. There was so much blood everywhere, some people had half of
their bodies missing. The first three rows [inside the church] were
destroyed," Nabil Nader, an eyewitness, said.
The explosions injured at least 71 people in Tanta and 35 others in Alexandria, the health ministry said.
The blasts appear to have been timed for maximum impact, as people
gathered to mark Palm Sunday. It is one of the holiest days in the
Christian calendar, marking the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into
Jerusalem.
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