Egypt Bomb Kills at Least 21

In a bloody beginning to the new year in Egypt, a suicide bombing outside a Coptic church in Alexandria killed at least 21 people and injured dozens more. “This massacre has al-Qaida written all over ... ,” a church official said. —JCL

The Guardian:

At least 21 people have been killed and more than 70 injured in Egypt in a suspected suicide bombing outside a church in Alexandria as worshippers left a new year service.

It was initially thought a car bomb had caused the explosion just after midnight at the Coptic orthodox al-Qidiseen church. But the interior ministry suggested a foreign-backed suicide bomber may have been responsible.

The blast did not originate in any of the cars that were destroyed, a ministry statement said. “It is likely that the device which exploded was carried by a suicide bomber who died among others.”

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AP / Ben Curtis

A man injured in the church bombing arrives by ambulance at a hospital in Alexandria, Egypt.