Egyptian prosecution orders detention of four people 15 days over church bombing

Wednesday 14-12-2016 07:13 PM

A nun cries as she stands at the scene inside Cairo's Coptic cathedral, following a bombing, in Egypt. REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

CAIRO, Dec 14 (Aswat Masriya ) - Egyptian prosecution ordered on Wednesday the detention of four people, including a woman, 15 days pending investigation into the recent bombing of St. Peter and St. Paul church in Cairo. 

The blast, which coincided with the Muslim celebration of the Prophet’s Birthday, killed 25 and injured dozens of worshippers at the church attached to one of Egypt’s most symbolic sites for Copts, St. Mark’s Coptic Cathedral. 

In its statement, the prosecution accused the defendants of joining a terrorist group, possessing explosives, inciting premeditated murder, participating in bombing the church and assisting a suicide bomber to carry out the attack.

Egypt's interior ministry said that the suicide bomber was a 22-year old man by the name Mahmoud Shafiq. 

The prosecution’s investigations revealed that the defendants were in connection with Ansar Beit al-Maqis, the affiliates of the Islamic State in Egypt  known as Sinai province. 

The statement said that the main defendant in the case is a doctor and is directly associated with the group.

It also said that the defendants helped the suicide bomber in scheming the attack, sheltering him and providing the explosives used in the bombing.

The bombing was claimed by the Islamic State in a statement on Tuesday. The group vowed "to continue war against apostates”.

On Monday, the interior ministry said that a 22-year old man by the name Mahmoud Shafiq was the suicide bomber who carried out the attack.

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