Hundreds gather at Egypt attack church to mourn bombing dead

Hundreds of members of Egypt’s Christian minority Copt community gathered at a church in Tanta on Easter Sunday (April 16) to mourn the at least 27 people killed in a suicide bombing there, a week earlier.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Palm Sunday (April 9) attack on the church and the bombing of another church in Alexandria on the same day that together killed 45 people.

Under the shadow of heavy security, mourners filed past a flower-strewn memorial at the Mar Girgis church, with incense burning, and offered prayers. Elsewhere, Copts attended Easter services in sombre mood.

Egypt’s government imposed a three-month state of emergency in the wake of the Palm Sunday attacks.

Copts make up about 10 percent of the 92-million population of mostly Muslim Egypt and are the region’s largest Christian denomination.