The attacks in the Nile Delta cities of Tanta and Alexandria followed a Cairo church bombing in December and came weeks before a planned visit by Catholic Pope Francis intended to show support for Egypt’s Christian minority.

Sisi declared the “three-month” state of emergency, which he must present to parliament within a week, during a defiant speech warning that the war against the jihadists “will be long and painful”.

The first bombing at the Mar Girgis church in Tanta city north of Cairo killed 27 people, the health ministry said.

Emergency services had scrambled to the scene when another blast rocked St Mark’s church in Alexandria where Coptic Pope Tawadros II had been leading a Palm Sunday service.

Seventeen people including at least four police officers were killed in that attack, which the interior ministry said was caused by a suicide bomber who blew himself up when prevented from entering the church.

The ministry said Tawadros was unharmed, and a church official said he left before the explosion.

The private CBC Extra channel aired footage of the Alexandria blast, with CCTV showing what appeared to be the church entrance engulfed in flame and flying concrete moments after a guard turned a man away.

Eyewitnesses said a police officer detected the bomber before he blew himself up.

At least 78 people were wounded in Tanta and 40 in Alexandria, the health ministry said.

Egyptian officials denounced the violence as an attempt to sow divisions, and Pop Francis sent his “deep condolences” to Tawadros.

IS claimed two Egyptian suicide bombers carried out both attacks and threatened further attacks in a statement published on social media.

After the bombings, Sisi ordered military deployments to guard “vital and important infrastructure”, his office said.

State television reported that the interior minister sacked the provincial head of security and replaced him after the attack.

“I heard the blast and came running. I found people torn up... some people, only half of their bodies remained,” Nabil Nader, who lives in front of the Tanta church, said.

At St Mark’s in Alexandria, at night the bodies were brought in wooden coffins decorated with golden crosses to the church yard where hundreds of sad and angry Copts gathered and a priest was saying prayers.

A Muslim funeral was also held in El Behira province for one of the four policemen killed in the St Mark’s attack.

Worshippers had been celebrating Palm Sunday, one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar, marking Jesus’s triumphant entrance to Jerusalem.

Egypt had been ruled under emergency law – which allows police expanded powers of arrest and surveillance – for decades before 2012.

Pope Francis, who is due in Cairo on April 28-29, offered prayers for the victims.

“Let us pray for the victims of the attack unfortunately carried out today,” he said.

“May the Lord convert the heart of those who sow terror, violence and death and also the heart of those who make weapons and trade in them.”

Copts, who make up about one tenth of Egypt’s population of more than 92 million and who celebrate Easter next weekend, have been targeted by several attacks in recent months.

Jihadists and Islamists accuse Copts of supporting the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, which ushered in a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

In December, a suicide bombing claimed by IS killed 29 worshippers in a Cairo church.

The group later released a video threatening Egypt’s Christians with more attacks.

A spate of jihadist-linked attacks in the restive Sinai Peninsula, including the murder of a Copt in the city of El Arish, led some Coptic families to flee.

“So sad to hear of the terrorist attack in Egypt. US strongly condemns. I have great confidence that President Al Sisi will handle situation properly,” he tweeted.

UN chief Antonio Guterres expressed the hope that the perpetrators will be swiftly brought to justice after a Security Council statement condemned the bombings as “heinous” and “cowardly”.

The Cairo-based Al-Azhar, an influential Sunni Muslim authority, said the attacks aimed to “destabilise security and... the unity of Egyptians”.

Egypt’s Copts have endured successive attacks since Morsi’s ouster in July 2013.

More than 40 churches were targeted nationwide in the two weeks after the deadly dispersal by security forces of two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo on August 14 that year, Human Rights Watch said.

Sisi, who as then army chief helped remove Morsi, has defended his security forces and accused jihadists of attacking Copts in order to divide the country.

In October 2011, almost 30 people – mostly Coptic Christians – were killed outside the state television building in Cairo after the army charged at protesters denouncing the torching of a church in southern Egypt.

A few months earlier, the unclaimed New Year’s Day bombing of a Coptic church killed more than 20 people in second city Alexandria.</s>Here's what's happening in the world of politics today:

-- Multiple senior staff sources have reported a shake up at the White House between the president's son-in-law and his chief strategist.

ABC News reports a clash has developed between Ivanka Trump's husband Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon based on ideology. Kushner wanting his father-in-law to take a more globalist viewpoint compared to Bannon's "America First" nationalist bent.

Apparently Trump confronted Bannon and Reince Preibus over media reports describing infighting. The next day, Preibus organized a face-to-face between Bannon and Kushner to try to smooth things over. No word on whether it worked.

The White House, of course, denied reports of infighting and denied a staff shake-up is imminent.

A U.S. aircraft carrier-led strike group is headed towards the Korean Peninsula, a US defense official confirmed to CNN.

Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command, directed the USS Carl Vinson strike group to sail north to the Western Pacific after departing Singapore on Saturday, Pacific Command announced.

Meanwhile a disturbing threat aired on North Korea state-run television threatening to put a knife through the throat of the carrier, according to Japan Times.

Japan Times reports there's been growing speculation that Pyonyang will conduct an intercontinental ballistic missile test soon and it does have a history of using the April 15th anniversary of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung's birth to "shot off its military might, including new weapons."

Dozens dead in I.S. bomb attacks at Egyptian churches

-- The Holy Week began attacks by the Islamic State group against Christian worshippers. The death toll continues to rise after two Christian churches were bombed on Palm Sunday.

St. George Church in Tanta was attacked first, killing at least 26 worshippers and wounding more than 70 others.

The second bomb detonated just after Pope Tawadros II finished services at St. Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria, killing at least 11 worshippers and wounding 30 others.

Egyptian Copts are one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East. I.S. had promised to step up attacks against Christians.

U.S. to accuse Russia of being complicit in Syria chemical attack

-- According to the New York Post, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will confront Vladimir Putin's foreign minister this week with evidence showing that Russia knew about and was trying to conceal Bashir al-Assad's sarin strike last week.

The meeting will take place in Moscow following a G-7 meeting in Italy where Tillerson will try to get support for a motion censuring Russia.

Tillerson is also expected to charge Russia with breaking a 2013 agreement to oversee the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons.</s>Here's what's happening in the world of politics today:

-- Multiple senior staff sources have reported a shake up at the White House between the president's son-in-law and his chief strategist.

ABC News reports a clash has developed between Ivanka Trump's husband Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon based on ideology. Kushner wanting his father-in-law to take a more globalist viewpoint compared to Bannon's "America First" nationalist bent.

Apparently Trump confronted Bannon and Reince Preibus over media reports describing infighting. The next day, Preibus organized a face-to-face between Bannon and Kushner to try to smooth things over. No word on whether it worked.

The White House, of course, denied reports of infighting and denied a staff shake-up is imminent.

A U.S. aircraft carrier-led strike group is headed towards the Korean Peninsula, a US defense official confirmed to CNN.

Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command, directed the USS Carl Vinson strike group to sail north to the Western Pacific after departing Singapore on Saturday, Pacific Command announced.

Meanwhile a disturbing threat aired on North Korea state-run television threatening to put a knife through the throat of the carrier, according to Japan Times.

Japan Times reports there's been growing speculation that Pyonyang will conduct an intercontinental ballistic missile test soon and it does have a history of using the April 15th anniversary of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung's birth to "shot off its military might, including new weapons."

Dozens dead in I.S. bomb attacks at Egyptian churches

-- The Holy Week began attacks by the Islamic State group against Christian worshippers. The death toll continues to rise after two Christian churches were bombed on Palm Sunday.

St. George Church in Tanta was attacked first, killing at least 26 worshippers and wounding more than 70 others.

The second bomb detonated just after Pope Tawadros II finished services at St. Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria, killing at least 11 worshippers and wounding 30 others.

Egyptian Copts are one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East. I.S. had promised to step up attacks against Christians.

U.S. to accuse Russia of being complicit in Syria chemical attack

-- According to the New York Post, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will confront Vladimir Putin's foreign minister this week with evidence showing that Russia knew about and was trying to conceal Bashir al-Assad's sarin strike last week.

The meeting will take place in Moscow following a G-7 meeting in Italy where Tillerson will try to get support for a motion censuring Russia.

Tillerson is also expected to charge Russia with breaking a 2013 agreement to oversee the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons.</s>At least 27 people have been killed in an explosion inside a church in the Egyptian Nile Delta city of Tanta, state media reported, as another blast killed 16 in front of a church in the coastal city of Alexandria.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) armed group on Sunday claimed responsibility for both attacks, in a statement via its Amaq website. It said they were carried out by two of its fighters wearing suicide vests.

Following the blasts, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered troops be deployed across the country to help secure "vital facilities" and said a three-month state of emergency would be imposed.

The first attack occurred in the Coptic church of Mar Girgis, also known as St George, which was packed with worshippers marking Palm Sunday, a Christian feast commemorating the entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.

Egypt's state television reported that at least 71 people were wounded in the attack.

OPINION: Sinai insurgency - An enduring risk

Several hours after the bombing in Tanta, another explosion hit in front of Saint Mark's church in Alexandria, where Coptic Pope Tawadros II was leading a service.

Egypt's state media said at least 16 people, including seven police officers, were killed in the suicide bomb attack.

Some on social media praised at least two police officers who they say stopped the bomber from entering the church. They were killed in the blast.

Witnesses in Tanta described a bloody and chaotic scene.

"Lots of bodies were torn apart and scattered on the floor," said one man who was standing on the church's altar when the bomb exploded.

READ MORE: Egypt's Coptic Christians flee Sinai after killings

Another witness said she saw flames flaring up to the church ceiling.

"There was thick smoke, I couldn't see anyone," she said. "We heard voices telling us to leave quickly. People were pushing so much that the gate bent."

Samer Shehata, associate professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera the attacks show a "tremendous security lapse" by Egyptian authorities.

"In the last few months, there has been an increased number of attacks on Egyptian Copts, individually, as well as on churches," Shehata said, adding that the church in Tanta received a threat 10 days ago.

"I do think this represents a lack of seriousness on the part of the state in really securing the Coptic community and places that could potentially be attacked."

Timothy Kaldas, non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, said the attacks were designed to create religious strife.

"It is alarming to see a specific religious group being targeted, which is going to rattle the Coptic community and many Egyptians in general," Kaldas told Al Jazeera.

Copts repeatedly targeted

The bombings were the latest in a series of assaults on Egypt's Christian minority, who make up about 10 percent of the population and have been repeatedly targeted by armed groups.

They also come just weeks before Pope Francis is due to visit Egypt.

CBC TV showed footage from inside the church in Tanta, with a large number of people gathered around what appeared to be lifeless, bloody bodies covered with papers.

A bombing at Cairo's largest Coptic cathedral killed at least 25 people and wounded 49 in December, many of them women and children, in the deadliest attack on Egypt's Christian minority in years.</s>Egypt declares three-month state of emergency after Palm Sunday church bombings kill 44

Updated

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has declared a three-month state of emergency after suicide bombers targeted two Coptic churches, killing at least 44 people and injuring dozens more in the run-up to Easter.

Key points: Under emergency law constitutional rights are suspended, police are given more power

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks

Attacks on Coptic churches in Muslim-majority Egypt occur regularly

At least 27 people were killed and 78 injured in the first blast at a Coptic church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, north of Cairo, Egypt's Health Ministry said.

The second blast, in front of a Christian church in Alexandria on the country's north coast, killed 17 and injured at least 48 others, the ministry added.

It said the Alexandria explosion was caused by a suicide bomber who tried to storm the entrance before being stopped by police.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for both attacks, saying two of its fighters wearing suicide vests carried out the attacks, and warned of more to come.

The assault is the latest on a religious minority increasingly targeted by Islamist militants, and presents a challenge to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has pledged to protect Coptic Christians as part of his campaign against extremism.

In a televised speech to the nation, Mr Sisi declared a three-month countrywide state of emergency, subject to parliamentary approval, and called for national unity and urged the media to refrain from coverage that could be harmful.

Under instated emergency law, constitutional rights are suspended, censorship is legalised and police are able to arrest and detain citizens indefinitely without charge.

Mr Sisi, a former army chief who came to power following a coup in 2013, also dispatched elite troops across the country to protect key installations and accused unidentified countries of fuelling instability.

"Egyptians have foiled plots and efforts by countries and fascist, terrorist organisations that tried to control Egypt," he declared.

Egypt had been under emergency law for decades until the 2011 revolution, which eventually led to the law becoming redundant as the country was placed under martial law following the 2013 coup.

Egyptian governments however have long been criticised for abusing the emergency law to persecute citizens, and activists are questioning Mr Sisi's motive in reinstating it given the impunity with which he currently maintains ruling the country.

Coptic Christians: Egypt's persecuted minority

The blasts on Palm Sunday were the latest in a series of assaults on Egypt's Christian minority, which makes up around 10 per cent of the population and has been repeatedly targeted by Islamic extremists.

Copts face regular attacks by Muslim neighbours, who burn their homes and churches in poor rural areas, usually in anger over an inter-faith romance or the construction of a church.

The latest attacks came just one week before Coptic Easter, and in the same month Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Egypt.

Pope Tawadros II, the leader of the Coptic church, was in the Alexandria cathedral at the time of the bombing but was unhurt, the Interior Ministry said.

"These acts will not harm the unity and cohesion of the people," Pope Tawadros II said after the attacks.

It was the single deadliest day for Christians in Egypt in decades, and the worst since a bombing at a Cairo cathedral in December killed around 30 people.

Pope Francis expressed his "deepest condolences" to all Egyptians and to the head of the Coptic Church during his Palm Sunday Mass before tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square.

"I pray for the dead and the victims. May the Lord convert the hearts of people who sow terror, violence and death and even the hearts of those who produce and traffic in weapons," he said.

US President Donald Trump, a strong supporter of Mr Sisi who recently invited him to the White House, expressed his condolences on Twitter.

"So sad to hear of the terrorist attack in Egypt. U.S. strongly condemns. I have great confidence that President Al Sisi will handle situation properly," Mr Trump wrote.

CBC TV showed footage from inside the Tanta church, where a large number of people gathered around what appeared to be lifeless, bloody bodies covered with papers.

"There was blood all over the floor and body parts scattered," a woman who was inside the church at the time of the attack said.

"There was a huge explosion in the hall. Fire and smoke filled the room and the injuries were extremely severe," another woman, Vivian Fareeg, said.

"Where is the Government?" screamed Maged Saleh, who rushed to the church in Tanta where his mother escaped the carnage. "There is no Government!"

"After the explosion, everything became dark from the smoke," said Edmond Edward, attending Mass in Tanta with his brother, Emil, who suffered head wounds.

"There was a clear lapse in security, which must be tightened from now on to save lives," he said, adding that the blast appeared to be centred near the altar.

Egypt struggles to combat wave of Islamic militancy

Egypt has struggled to combat a wave of Islamic militancy since the 2013 military overthrow of elected Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.

A local Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility for the December bombing in Cairo.

In February, Christian families and students fled Egypt's North Sinai province in droves after the Islamic State group began a spate of targeted killings there.

A militant group called Liwa al-Thawra claimed responsibility for an April 1 bomb attack targeting a police training centre in Tanta, which wounded 16 people.

The group, believed to be linked to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, has mainly targeted security forces and distanced itself from attacks on Christians.

AP/Reuters

Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, eastern-churches, terrorism, egypt

First posted</s>Two explosions at Coptic churches in Egypt on Sunday have left at leat 23 people dead. At least 21 people were killed in an explosion at a Coptic church in Tanta, an Egyptian city located 130 kilometres from the capital, Cairo. Hours later, an explosion at St Mark Coptic Cathedral in Alexandria claimed two lives and injured several others, while Coptic Pope Tawadros II was inside it.

Investigators looking into the Tanta incident have not yet announced what caused the blast or who was behind it. Local channels claimed dozens, possibly more than 50, were injured. An official toll has not been announced yet.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi said the injured are to be treated at military hospitals, local news channels reported. Principal Governor Ahmad Deif told the Al Arabiya news channel that either a bomb went of or a suicide attackers was involved. Security forces later searched the church for other explosive devices, but found none.

The blast at the Mar Girgis Coptic Church took place while it was full of people observing Palm Sunday, an especially holy day for the community. Palm Sunday is a feast that takes place seven days before Easter and marks the day Jesus entered Jerusalem.

Coptic Christians make up about 10% of Egypt’s population, and have often faced attacks by armed groups, in particular the Islamic State outfit, in the past. In December, at least 25 people were killed and another 35 wounded after a bomb exploded in Egypt’s main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo. The blast had taken place near the outer wall of St Mark’s Cathedral, which is the seat of the country’s Orthodox Christian Church and its spiritual leader, Pope Tawadros II. The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for it.

Pope Francis is expected to visit Egypt later this year.</s>(CNN) — Bombs targeted two Coptic churches in Egypt as the Christian faithful observed Palm Sunday, one of the most important days on the religion's calendar.

A powerful blast rippled through a Palm Sunday service at a Coptic Christian church in the northern Egypian city of Tanta, killing 25 people and wounding 60 others, state TV reported. The explosive device at St. George's Coptic church in Tanta was planted under a seat in the church, where it detonated in the main prayer hall, it said.

At least 11 people were killed and 35 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack outside Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, according to two state-news outlets. Egyptian state media also reports that the head of Egypt's Coptic Church Pope Tawadros II was inside the Church when the blast happened. He was not injured.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility.

Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, and marks the start of Holy Week for Christians.

Nile and Masriya TV, Egyptian state outlets, aired black banners in the upper left of its newscasts to signify mourning for the victims of both explosions.

In Tanta, news footage shows people gathered at the church, singing hymns. The video then quickly switches to bars as harrowing screams and cries echo in the background.

"Everything is destroyed inside the church" and blood can be seen on marble pillars, said Peter Kamel, who saw the aftermath of the carnage.

It appeared the explosive device was placed near the altar, he said. Priests and the church choir were among the casualties.

Social media video showed crowds gathered outside the church shortly after the attack.

In Alexandria, the Interior Ministry said in a statement that police assigned to St. Mark's stopped a terrorist with an explosive belt from breaking into the church. Along with civilians, a policeman, a policewoman and other police staff were killed.

Egyptian blogger Maged Butter told CNN he saw five or six ambulances and blood stains 100 meters away from the site of the explosion -- near the church gate.

He said women were crying and looking for their loved ones and were yelling at police for not protecting them. Police faced difficulty as crowds gathered.

"Every now and then, I see a person crying -- I think they are Christian -- and they keep saying: 'have you seen my family? Have you seen my family?' " Butter said.

Alexandria sits on the Mediterranean and has a large Christian population. Downtown is usually busy but was relatively quiet on Sunday because of the holiday.

"This is usually a very busy area, but thank God it is a Sunday, and many shops are closed," he said.

While it's unclear who attacked the churches, Copts face persecution and discrimination that has spiked since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak's regime in 2011.

Dozens have been killed in sectarian clashes. In December, an attack at a Coptic church in Cairo killed 25 people.

"Coptic churches and homes have been set on fire, members of the Coptic minority have been physically attacked, and their property has been looted," rights group Amnesty International reported in March.

Coptic Christians make up about 10% of Egypt's population of 91 million. They base their theology on the teachings of the Apostle Mark, who introduced Christianity to Egypt.

Tanta is roughly 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of Cairo, in the Nile delta.

The attack comes days after President Donald Trump welcomed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to Washington and stressed his support for Cairo. Among the topics of mutual concern were terrorism and terror group ISIS.

El-Sisi met Saturday with a US congressional delegation led by US Rep. Darrell Issa, the Egyptian government said.

The meeting addressed Egypt's counterterrorism efforts and adopting a strategy to fight terror and encourage religious tolerance and acceptance of others.

The Tanta attack drew outrage from religious leaders across the globe.

Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Cairo this month, where he will meet with various religious leaders, including the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

He expressed his grief following the church attack.

"To my dear brother his Holiness Pope Tawadros II, to the Coptic church and to all of the dear country Egypt, I express my deep condolences, I prayed for the dead and the wounded, I am close to the families and to the entire community. God convert the hearts of the people who spread terror, violence and dead, and also the heart of who produces and traffic weapons," the Pope said.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, serving the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion, called the attacks "evil" and urged people to pray for the victims.

CNN's Sarah Sirgany, Tamara Qiblawi, Bijan Hosseini and Ian Lee contributed to this report</s>It was a bloody Palm Sunday for Egypt’s Coptic Christians as 25 of them were bombed to death in two churches in the Egyptian cities of Tanta and Alexandria.About 50 people were reportedly injured, state television said on Sunday.There was no immediate claim of responsibility.The first explosive was planted under a seat at St. George (Mar Girgis) Coptic church, where it detonated in the main prayer hall.A second explosion went off outside St Mark’s Coptic Church in Alexandria, killing at least two people.Pope Tawdros II, head of the Coptic Church, had been attending mass inside.The earlier blast targeted St George’s Coptic church in the city of Tanta, about 130km south-east.Worshippers at a Coptic Church.The attack came just one week before Coptic Easter and the same month as Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Egypt.“Terrorism hits Egypt again, this time on Palm Sunday. Another obnoxious but failed attempt against all Egyptians,” the foreign affairs ministry tweeted.Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, and marks the start of Holy Week for Christians.CNN reported that Social media video showed crowds gathered outside the church shortly after the attack.Copts face persecution and discrimination that has spiked since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in 2011.Dozens have been killed in sectarian clashes.In December, an attack at a Coptic church in Cairo killed 25 people.“Coptic churches and homes have been set on fire, members of the Coptic minority have been physically attacked, and their property has been looted,” rights group Amnesty International reported in March.</s>At least 13 people have been killed and 25 wounded in a bombing of a church north of Cairo, an Egyptian official said.

The attack took place on the Coptic Christian Palm Sunday, when the church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta was packed with worshippers, the reported.

The state-run MENA news agency said 35 were wounded in the attack.

CBC showed footage from inside the church, where a large number of people gathered around what appeared to be lifeless, bloody bodies covered with papers.

Christians make up around 10 percent of Egypt's population and have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists.</s>A bomb blast at a church north of Cairo killed at least 22 people and wounded dozens who had gathered for Palm Sunday mass, officials said, in the latest apparent attack on Egypt’s Coptic Christians.

Some 71 people were wounded in the blast, which struck at a Coptic Church in the Nile Delta City of Tanta, 120 kilometres (75 miles) north of Cairo, according to a health ministry toll.

Images broadcast by private television stations showed bloodstains smearing the whitewashed walls of the church next to shredded wooden benches.

Palm Sunday is one of the holiest days of the Christian calendar, marking the triumphant entrance of Jesus to Jerusalem.

“The explosion took place in the front rows, near the altar, during the mass,” General Tarek Atiya, the deputy to Egypt’s interior minister in charge of relations with the media, told AFP.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday’s blast.

Copts, who make up about one tenth of Egypt’s population of more than 92 million and who celebrate Easter next weekend, have been targeted by several attacks in recent months.

Pope Francis is due to visit Cairo on April 28-29 to show solidarity with Egypt’s Christian community.

Jihadists and Islamists accuse Copts of supporting the military overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, which ushered in a deadly crackdown on his supporters.

In December, a suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group killed 29 worshippers during Sunday mass in Cairo.

The bombing of the church within a compound that also holds the seat of the Coptic papacy was the deadliest attack against the minority in recent memory.

A spate of jihadist-linked attacks in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, including the murder of a Copt in the city of El Arish whose house was also burned, have led some Coptic families to flee their homes.

About 250 Christians took refuge in the Suez Canal city of Ismailiya after IS released a video in February calling for attacks on the religious minority.

“Terrorism hits Egypt again, this time on Palm Sunday,” he tweeted.

The Cairo-based Al-Azhar, an influential Sunni Muslim authority, said Sunday’s bombing aimed to “destabilise security and… the unity of Egyptians”.

Egypt’s Copts have endured successive attacks since Morsi’s ouster in July 2013.

More than 40 churches were attacked nationwide in the two weeks after the deadly dispersal by security forces of two pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo on August 14, 2013, Human Rights Watch said.

Amnesty International later said more than 200 Christian-owned properties were attacked and 43 churches seriously damaged, adding that at least four people were killed.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who as then army chief helped remove Morsi, has defended his security forces and accused jihadists of attacking Copts in order to divide the country.

In October 2011, almost 30 people — mostly Coptic Christians — were killed after the army charged at a protest outside the state television building in Cairo to denounce the torching of a church in southern Egypt.

In May that year, clashes between Muslims and Copts left 15 dead in the working-class Cairo neighbourhood of Imbaba where two churches were attacked.

A few months earlier, the unclaimed bombing of a Coptic church killed more than 20 people in Egypt’s second city of Alexandria on New Year’s Day.

Pope Francis will visit the site of the December church attack next to Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral — the seat of Coptic Christian Pope Tawadros II.
At least 45 people have been killed and 50 injured in explosions near two Coptic Christian churches packed with worshippers on Palm Sunday in the Egyptian cities of Tanta and Alexandria.