Attack on Coptic cathedral in Cairo kills dozens

CAIRO — A bomb ripped through a section reserved for women at Cairo’s main Coptic cathedral during Sunday morning Mass, killing at least 25 people and wounding 49, mostly women and children, Egyptian state media said.

Video from the blast site circulating on social media showed blood-smeared floors and shattered pews among the marble pillars at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, the seat of Egypt’s Orthodox Christian church, where the blast occurred in a chapel adjacent to the main building.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although the attack bore the hallmark of Islamist militants fighting President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi who have previously targeted minority Christians over their perceived support for his government.

An Islamist militant group claimed responsibility for an explosion at a security check post on Friday that killed six police officers.

Egyptian security officials, quoted by state media, said that an explosive device containing about 26 pounds of TNT had been placed in the chapel.

Tarek Attiya, a police spokesman, denied accusations of lax security at the church, and said the police had been operating a metal detector at the church entrance as normal.