The death toll of the Alexandria church bombing has reached 21, Health Ministry statements say. Some bodies are too deformed to be identified, according to the ministry statement. The bombing shook the Church of St. Mark and St. Peter in the Sidi Bishr area on Saturday morning, 20 minutes after midnight. Blood stained the walls of both the church and the nearby mosque of Sharq al-Madina. Six cars were visibly damaged from the explosion. Police were clearing the church of dead bodies until 9 AM Saturday. Volunteers from the church community helped. At some point, youngsters from the church started chanting, “With our blood and soul, we will defend our cross.” Some started throwing stones at the nearby mosque, but there were no reported injuries from the post-explosion riots. The mosque switched off its lights shortly after the stoning began. Eyewitnesses from among the rioters told Al-Masry Al-Youm that they overheard the mosque finishing its prayer with the phrase “hay al-gehad” (come to Jihad). Hanna, an eyewitness taking part in the new year's eve prayer at the church told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the sermon during the mass was longer than usual. People started leaving church early and on their way out were hit by pieces of glass, while the sound of a strong explosion was heard. All roads to the church are closed and journalists are denied access to the site of the bombing. However, bloodstained shoes and shirts were seen scattered on the ground from a distance. Street workers were seen clearing the site and removing detritus, which surprised some of those present as it is supposed to be a closed site of investigation. “The problem with Nagaa Hammadi is that it was easy to identify the perpetrators. But in this case, the perpertrators are unknown,” Hanna told Al-Masry Al-Youm, suggesting that the attack might be choreographed from outside Egypt. Al-Qaeda's branch in Iraq recently threatened Egypt's Christians with attacks if the church does not release two women who allegedly converted to Islam. A website called “the state of Islamic Iraq” on Saturday claimed they were the perpetrators and released a statement saying, “In support of our sisters held hostage in Egypt, and after meticulous planning, God's mujahedeen managed to attack a filthy spot that the enemies of God have used to fight Islam.” On 7 January last year, a drive-by shooting killed seven people as they walked out of Christmas mass.
