Jihadists of Islamic State celebrate bombing of Cairo’s cathedral chapel

December 11, 2016

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, but it was celebrated on social media by supporters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

“God bless the person who did this blessed act,” wrote one jihadist on the online messaging network Telegram, while another said: “God is great, God is great, God is great.”

Christians in Egypt have previously been targeted by Islamic extremists, such as in 2011 when a New Year’s Day bombing in Alexandria left 21 dead.

“This is a serious development,” Mina Thabet, a researcher at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, said. “This is the first time a bomb was smuggled inside a church [in Egypt] and targeted directly the worshipers. “

Police and armored vehicles rushed to the area, as hundreds of protesters gathered outside the compound demanding revenge for the attack that took place on a Muslim holiday marking the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday and weeks before Christmas. Scuffles broke out with police.

A woman sitting near the cathedral in traditional long robes shouted “kill them, kill the terrorists, what are you waiting for?…. Why are you leaving them to bomb our homes?”

Though Egypt’s Coptic Christians have traditionally been supporters of the government, angry crowds turned their ire against Sisi, saying his government had failed to protect them.

“As long as Egyptian blood is cheap, down, down with any president…” they chanted. Others chanted “the people demand the fall of the regime”, the rallying cry of the 2011 uprising that helped end Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

Sisi’s office condemned what it described as a terrorist attack, declaring three days of mourning and promising justice.

Christians, convinced attacks on them are not seriously investigated, say this time they want justice.

“Where was the security? There were five or six security cars stationed outside so where were they 12 kg of TNT was carried inside?” said Mena Samir, 25, standing at the church’s metal gate. “They keep telling us national unity, the crescent with the cross… This time we will not shut up.”