Church bombing in Egypt causes anguish, anxiety

The New Year's Day suicide bombing outside a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria, which killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more, brought tightened security measures from Egyptian authorities, who blamed foreigners, and heightened fears among the minority Christian population.

The Coptic leadership called the bombing outside a church in the seaport city "a grave escalation" of violence against Egypt's Coptic Christians, who make up an estimated 10 percent of the population, and "a result of the current sectarian tensions between Muslims and Copts that recently erupted due to the spread of lies about the church and its symbols."

Church officials have complained that authorities repeatedly block new church construction or building improvements and that Christians suffer discrimination. The attack was said to be the deadliest in ten years against the dwindling Copt communities.