A car packed with explosives was detonated outside the Al Qiddissine church just after midnight on New Years Day as Coptic Christians were celebrating the new year. The massive blast destroyed the church and damaged a nearby mosque. In the explosion, 21 people were killed and more than 80 were wounded.
Egypt's Interior Ministry said it believes the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, and that "foreign elements undertook planning and execution."
"It is likely that the device which exploded was carried by a suicide bomber who died among others," according to a statement released by the ministry.
The bombing occurred just 10 days after al Qaeda in Iraq issued a statement on the Internet threatening to attack churches in Iraq and kill Christians. In the statement, al Qaeda in Iraq said Christians must take several steps to avoid being targeted, and specifically mentioned Copts in Egypt. ...
Debka.
The rising tide of Islamist terror in Egypt, which exploded in Alexandria on Jan. 1, is thrown up by multiple sources inside the country:
1. Al Qaeda has grown offshoots in the cities lining the Suez Canal, such as Ismailya, Suez, and the towns and villages around Alexandria.
2. For years, Egyptian security forces have tried and failed to uproot the Al Qaeda cells and Egyptian Islamic Jihad fugitives on the run which are entrenched in the rugged mountains at the heart of the Sinai Peninsula. These strongholds are also used by the local Bedouin tribesmen operating a thriving Middle East smuggling network for weapons, drugs and human traffic.
3. Its routes keep Al Qaeda supplied with weapons, explosives and reinforcements. They start in Somalia, pass through Eritrea and Sudan into southern Egypt, cross the Suez Canal and land in Sinai with their contraband. Their supply route then forks into a western branch for deliveries to Palestinian Gaza Strip and West Bank recipients , and the eastern branch, which heads northeast to Jordan and winds across its borders through to Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. ...
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