Kuwait deplores Cairo church attack – Amir offers condolences

This news has been read 6408 times!

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 11, (Agencies): Kuwait Sunday voiced vehement condemnation of the “terrorist” blast that targeted a church in Cairo and left scores of people dead or wounded. An official source at the Foreign Ministry said in a statement that such “terrorist” acts would never undermine Egypt’s resolve to fight terrorism resolutely.

The source reiterated that Kuwait stands by Egypt in its fight against terrorism, and supports all its security measures to preserve its security and stability. The source offered heartfelt condolences to Egypt’s leadership, government and people over the victims of the church explosion, and wished swift recovery to those injured in the blast. Meanwhile, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al- Sabah sent a cable of condolences on Sunday to Egyptian President Abdel- Fattah el-Sisi, expressing his deepest sympathies for the victims of the bomb blast.

In his cable, His Highness the Amir voiced Kuwait’s vehement condemnation of such criminal acts that threaten Egypt’s security and stability, as he wished those wounded in the attack a speedy recovery. His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al- Hamad Al-Sabah sent cables of similar sentiments to the Egyptian President.

The bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt’s main Coptic Christian cathedral killed 25 people and wounded another 49 during Sunday Mass, one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory and a grim reminder of Egypt’s difficult struggle to restore security and stability after nearly six years of turmoil.

The attack came two days after a bomb elsewhere in Cairo killed six policemen, an assault claimed by a shadowy group that authorities say is linked to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. That group — called “Hasm”, or “Decisiveness” — and others suspected of links to the Brotherhood, have chiefly targeted members of the armed forces and police as well as judges, prosecutors and security officials. This, at least in theory, leaves the extremist Islamic State group as the chief suspect.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday’s attack. However, Islamic militants have targeted Christians in the past, including a New Year’s Day bombing at a church in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria in 2011 that killed at least 21 people. More recently, churches and Christian property in southern Egypt have been targeted in the weeks and months that followed the military’s 2013 ouster of an Islamist president. Those were blamed on Brotherhood supporters and ultraorthodox SalafiMuslims.

The Islamic State has targeted Christians in the Sinai Peninsula, where it primarily wages attacks against security forces. No matter who is behind the bombing, the attack was likely to deal a setback to Egypt’s struggle to regain normalcy and revive its ailing economy since a popular uprising toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak’s regime in 2011. Moreover, the attacks this past week were almost certain to undermine the modest recovery made in recent months by the vital tourism sector.

Egypt’s official MENA news agency said an assailant lobbed a bomb into a chapel adjacent to St Mark’s Cathedral, seat of Egypt’s Orthodox Christian church and home to the office of its spiritual leader, Pope Tawadros II, who is currently visiting Greece. Egyptian state TV and the Health Ministry put the casualty toll at 25 dead and 49 wounded. Witnesses said the explosion may have been caused by an explosive device planted inside the chapel. A senior church cleric, Bishop Moussa, said at the cathedral that there were unconfirmed reports that a woman posing as a worshipper left a bag in the chapel’s women’s section before slipping out.

Conflicting accounts are common in the immediate aftermath of attacks. The blast took place as a Sunday Mass in the chapel was about to end and coincided with a national holiday in Egypt marking the birth of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. Most of the victims are thought to be women and children. State television aired calls by several Cairo hospitals treating the wounded for blood donations and el-Sisi declared a three-day state of mourning.

“The pain felt by Egyptians now will not go to waste, but will instead result in an uncompromising decisiveness to hunt down and bring to trial whoever helped — through inciting, facilitating, participating or executing — in this heinous crime,” a presidential statement quoted the Egyptian leader as saying. An Associated Press reporter who arrived at the scene shortly after the blast saw blood-stained pews and shards of glass scattered across the chapel’s floor. Men and women wailed and cried outside. AP photos showed a broken pair of ladies’ spectacles on the ground next to a girl’s boots with leopard spots and a pink ribbon.

This news has been read 6408 times!

Related Articles

Back to top button

Advt Blocker Detected

Kindly disable the Ad blocker

Verified by MonsterInsights