Bomb attack near Cairo’s Coptic cathedral leaves several dead

At least 25 people have been killed and 35 more injured after a bomb went off near Egypt’s main Coptic Christian cathedral, state media have reported.

The attack on the Cairo cathedral, which took place at round 10am local time on Sunday morning, was one of the deadliest against Egypt’s Christian minority in recent history.

The bomb reportedly exploded in a chapel close to the outer wall of St Mark’s Cathedral, which is the seat of Egypt’s Orthodox Christian church and houses the office of its spiritual leader, Pope Tawadros II.

There were conflicting reports as to the nature of the attack – Egypt’s state-owned Mena news agency reported that an assailant had thrown a bomb into the chapel, but some witnesses said that an explosive device had been placed inside the building.

“I saw a headless woman being carried away,” an eyewitnesses told the Associated Press. “Everyone was in a state of shock. There were children. What have they done to deserve this? I wish I had died with them instead of seeing these scenes.”

By lunchtime, a group of protestors had gathered outside the cathedral complex – which has been cordoned off by police – chanting: “Tell the sheikh, tell the priest, Egyptian’s blood is not cheap”.

Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority – which makes up around 10% of the population – have complained about discrimination in the Muslim majority country. Two people were killed outside St Mark’s cathedral in 2013, when people mourning the death of four Coptic Christians killed in religious violence clashed with residents.

In February this year, an Egyptian court sentenced three Christian teens to five years in prison for insulting Islam. The teens had appeared in a video, apparently mocking Muslim prayer, but claimed in court that they had actually been mocking the Islamic State militant group following a number of beheadings.