IS claims Egypt's deadly church blast
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Cairo: The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for a recent deadly church blast in Cairo that killed at least 25, the militant group said in a statement circulated on Tuesday on social media websites.
The blast took place on Sunday morning at Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, known as al-Boutrosiya Church, which is adjacent to Saint Mark's Cathedrtal in Cairo's Abassiya neighbourhood, Xinhua news agency reported.
The IS statement said that a suicide bomber referred to as Abu Abdullah al-Masry carried out the attack with an explosive belt, killing and injuring 80.
During an official funeral on Monday, President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi revealed that the attack was done by a 22-year-old suicide bomber named Mahmoud Shafiq.
The attack came a day after an Egyptian top court confirmed a death sentence against Adel Habbara, a militant Islamist extremist, over a 2013 anti-military attack that killed at least 25 soldiers in restive North Siani province.
Most of anti-government terror attacks that took place over the past three years were claimed by a Sinai-based group affiliated with the IS.
On Monday, a blast killed two military conscripts and injured three others in Sheikh Zuweid city of North Sinai, while on Friday, a bomb attack killed six policemen in Giza province near the capital Cairo.
