Attacks in Egypt on Palm Sunday 2017

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After the attack in Alexandria
The Coptic St. George Church in Tanta
St. Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria

On April 9, 2017, 44 people were killed and over 120 injured in Islamist attacks on two Coptic churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday . The attacks took place during the celebration of the Mass on Palm Sunday in the Coptic Saint George's Church of Tanta ( Saint George Church ) and in the St. Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria ( St. Mark's Cathedral ) instead.

backgrounds

In Egypt there are frequent targeted attacks on the Christian minority. In 2010, eight Copts and one Muslim died in a massacre in the Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi . In the terrorist attack on January 1, 2011 in Alexandria , 23 people were killed and 97 others injured. In the run-up to Christmas on December 11, 2016, there was an attack in the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Cairo . In February 2017, the IS again called for further terrorist attacks against Christians in Egypt.

Sequence of events

The first attack took place during the service in St. George's Church in Tanta in the Nile Delta at around 10.30 a.m. Eastern European Time (EET). The explosion was triggered by an explosive device taped under a chair. At least 29 people were killed and 70 injured in the bomb attack.

Some time afterwards, a man tried to break into St. Mark's Cathedral in Alexandria, but was prevented by police at the entrance from entering the church. The suicide bomber then blew himself up. In the church, the seat of the Coptic Pope, Pope Tawadros II had read Palm Sunday mass. After the attack, he was brought to safety unharmed. About 11 people were killed and many more seriously injured in the attack.

The terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) took responsibility for the attacks on the afternoon of April 9, 2017 and stated that their commandos had carried out the attacks on both churches in Tanta and Alexandria. She threatened further attacks that were targeted against Christians, and emphasized in her message that the crusaders and infidels would pay with the blood of their sons.

The Egyptian Ministry of the Interior identified the suicide bomber who blew himself up in front of St. Mark's Church in Alexandria. It was the dangerous Islamist Mahmoud Hassan Mubarak Abdullah.

consequences

The Egyptian President Abd al-Fattah as-Sisi convened the National Security Council on April 9, 2017 and ordered the immediate deployment of army units from the armed forces of Egypt . The military should, among other things, support the police in their work and search churches and public buildings for other possible explosive devices and protect them from new attacks. After Al-Sissi spoke out in favor of it in a speech on state television that evening, the Egyptian parliament declared a state of emergency on April 10 for a period of three months . This state of emergency was extended several times, most recently on April 14, 2018 for a further three months.

In response to the attacks, Israel closed the border crossing to Egypt near Taba on April 10, 2017 . The German Foreign Office warned tourists of the increased risk of terrorism in Egypt.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anna Osius: Bloody Terror on Palm Sunday. Tagesschau, April 9, 2017, accessed on April 9, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Tagesschau: Tagesschausendung. April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 12, 2017 .
  3. ^ Egypt declares a state of emergency. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, April 9, 2017, accessed on April 9, 2017 .
  4. ^ Alberto M. Fernandez: ISIS Egypt Is Openly Betting On Bigotry As A Winning Strategy. MEMRI Daily Brief No.120. In: memri.org. MEMRI , February 22, 2017, accessed April 9, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Sofia Petkar: “God gave orders to kill every infidel” - ISIS vows to massacre Christians in chilling video. In: Express.co.uk. February 21, 2017, accessed April 9, 2017 .
  6. ^ Attacks hit Christians in Egypt. In: www.dw.com. Deutsche Welle, April 9, 2017, accessed April 9, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Christoph Sydow: Christians in the sights , spiegel.de, April 10, 2017.
  8. ↑ Giuseppe Nardi: IS attacker identified by DNA - Egypt's Christians are canceling liturgies: only Easter Sunday is celebrated in public. In: kathisches.de. April 13, 2017. Retrieved April 17, 2017 .
  9. ^ Egypt's President Sisi announces a state of emergency. In: www.spiegel.de. Spiegel Online, April 9, 2017, accessed April 9, 2017 .
  10. ↑ State of emergency applies for three months. Zeit Online, April 10, 2017, accessed on the same day.
  11. ^ State of emergency extended again Deutschlandfunk, April 14, 2018
  12. ↑ Gil Yaron: How the Islamic State of Egypt drifts in front of it , welt.de, April 10, 2017.
  13. ^ Foreign Office warns travelers to Egypt , handelsblatt.com, April 10, 2017.