Islamic State terror group ISIS has claimed responsibility for two bombings of Palm Sunday worship services at two Coptic churches in Egypt, killing 43, drawing strong condemnation from leaders everywhere.
The first attack took place at St. George’s Church in the northern city of Tanta; an explosive device was reportedly planted near the altar and detonated while the congregation was singing hymns. Twenty-seven were killed, including priests and choristers, 78 others injured, according to CNN Sunday.
Television footage showed the inside of the church, where a large number of people gathered around what appeared to be lifeless, bloody bodies covered with papers.
Christian Post confirms that soon thereafter, in Alexandria, a suicide attacker strapped with a bomb killed 16 people and injured 41 more outside St. Mark’s Orthodox Coptic Cathedral. According to the Egyptian state media, the head of Egypt’s Coptic Church, Pope Tawadros II, was inside when the blast occurred. He was not injured.
In claiming responsibility for the attack ISIS signaled that more attacks were coming: “The Crusaders and their tails from the apostates must be aware that the bill between us and them is very large and they will be paying it like a river of blood from their sons, if God willing.”
Condemnation of the bombings came swiftly both in Egypt and overseas.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi called the attacks “outrageous” and ordered an investigation to “hunt down the perpetrators” and “take all measures to offer the necessary care for the wounded.” He also called for three days of national mourning.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said through a spokesman that he “wish[ed] a quick recovery to those injured and hopes that the perpetrators of this horrific terrorist act will be swiftly identified and brought to justice.”
Reaction was similar in the United States.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter to condemn the attack, saying he has “great confidence that [Egyptian] President Al Sisi will handle situation properly.”
U.S. Senator James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma and member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, said in a press release that “[t]oday’s Palm Sunday attack in Egypt on peaceful worshippers in their church is a horrible act of terrorism. Anti-religious and anti-Christian violence is alive and well throughout the Middle East, and the World.”
