The Latest: Blast at church in Egypt’s Alexandria kills 11

People stand near St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral after an explosion inside the cathedral in Cairo, Egypt December 11, 2016. (REUTERS)

CAIRO: Egypt’s Health Ministry says an explosion at a church in the coastal city of Alexandria has killed 11 people, and wounded at least 35 others.
It appeared to be the second attack targeting Egypt’s Coptic Christians, after a bomb in a church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta killed 26 people and wounded more than 70.
The ministry said the explosion went off at Saint Mark’s Church in Alexandria, where Pope Tawadros II had earlier celebrated Palm Sunday.
No one immediately claimed either attack, but Islamic extremists have repeatedly targeted Egypt’s Christian minority in the past.
A Daesh affiliate based in the Sinai Peninsula claimed an attack on a Cairo church in December that killed around 30 people, and vowed more attacks on Christians.
French President Francois Hollande has expressed solidarity with Egypt following a deadly bombing at a church in the Nile Delta, north of Cairo.
In a written statement after Sunday’s attack, Hollande says “one more time, Egypt is hit by terrorists who want to destroy its unity and its diversity.”
He says France “mobilizes all its forces in association with the Egyptian authorities in the fight against terrorism,” and offers condolences to the families of the victims.
The bomb ripped through a church in the town of Tanta that was packed with Palm Sunday worshippers. Coptic Christians make up 10 percent of Egypt’s population, and have been repeatedly targeted by Islamic extremists.
Daesh group has claimed the bombing of two Egyptian churches in separate cities.
Pope Francis has decried a deadly attack on a Coptic church in Egypt during Palm Sunday celebrations, just weeks before his planned visit to Cairo.
The pontiff expressed his “deep condolences to my brother, Pope Tawadros II, the Coptic church and all of the dear Egyptian nation,” and said he was praying for the dead and wounded in the attack. Word of the bombing came as Francis himself was marking Palm Sunday in St. Peter’s Square.
The pontiff asked God “to convert the hearts of those who spread terror, violence and death, and also the hearts of those who make, and traffic in, weapons.”
The pope’s remarks on the church attack were handed to him on a piece of paper after he remembered the victims of the Stockholm attack Friday night. The bombing killed 25 people and wounded another 71, according to Egyptian officials.
An Egyptian official says a church bombing north of Cairo has killed 21 people and wounded another 38.
Magdi Awad, the head of the provincial ambulance service, confirmed the toll from the bombing of a church in Tanta that was packed with Palm Sunday worshippers.
No one immediately claimed the attack.
Coptic Christians make up 10 percent of Egypt’s population and have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists.
Egypt state media says a bomb has gone off in a church in the Nile Delta, causing casualties.
The MENA news agency attributed the report to unnamed Interior Ministry officials, who provided no further details.
The explosion took place in the town of Tanta as Coptic Christians were marking Palm Sunday. Christians make up around 10 percent of Egypt’s population and have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists.