Egyptian security forces in the western province of Gharbia defused a bomb inside the Mary Girgis Church in Tanta, Egypt’s fifth largest governorate.
The police forces received reports that a bomb had been discovered inside the Mary Girgis church on Ali Mubarak Street.
As a result, the street was closed on both sides until the explosives and civil defense experts arrived on the scene.
The experts worked to dismantle and neutralize the explosive without causing casualties or damage.
Christians were the target of the recent terrorist attacks in Egypt.
Last December, a deadly attack targeted the Coptic Cathedral bombing in Cairo which killed nearly 30 people.
The Islamic State group(IS) claimed their responsibility for the attack which was the largest by group against civilians in Cairo.
Last month, the Islamic State (IS) posted a video in which it threatened the Christians in Egypt and vowed to launch attacks against them, saying that “Cairo will soon be liberated” (from Christians).
The video showed Abu Abdullah Al-Masry, the man responsible for the deadly attack Coptic Cathedral bombing in Cairo.
In the video, a narrator described Christians as ISIS’s“favorite prey” and said that they do not enjoy the status of “dhimmis”, non-Muslims who were traditionally protected inside medieval Islamic empires.”
Instead, Christians are described as “infidels”. One of the jihadists featured in the video,“God gave orders to kill every infidel.”
At that time, the video inferred that the militants are planning to carry out more terrorist attacks that will target Christians.
As a result, seven Christians were killed in three weeks, prompting almost 200 families to flee northern Sinai, according to church officials and human rights groups.
Violence and unrest have escalated in the north African country after the military coup launched against Egypt’s first democratically elected President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
As a result the military and the police forces have been the target of ongoing attacks by militants especially in Northern Sinai.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, the militant group responsible for a majority of attacks on military personnel, aligned with the Islamic State group in November 2014, changing its name to “Sinai Province”.
Sinai Province has targeted Egypt’s security forces in various attacks, mostly roadside bombings, and ambushes, as well as operations against security checkpoints.
