The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the Sunday morning attacks on the Mar Giurgis church in the Nile Delta city of Tanta and Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, according to the IS-affiliated Ammaq media outlet.
IS recently released video footage of a militant, who the group claimed is the suicide bomber who was responsible for the attack on Abbasiya Coptic Cathedral in December, which left 29 dead. The video also contained direct threats to wipe out Coptic Christians in Egypt, who make up about 10 percent of the population — one of the Middle East's largest Christian minorities.
Following the December attack, IS-affiliated group Sinai Province carried out a series of attacks against Coptic residents in al-Arish, North Sinai, which caused most of the governorate's Christian population to flee, mainly to Ismailia governorate.
