[1][3][4][5] The attack was the deadliest act of violence against Egypt's Coptic Christians in a decade, since the Kosheh massacre in 2000 left 20 Copts dead.
"[12] The Alexandria bombing occurred almost two months to the day after the attack on Our Lady of Salvation church in central Baghdad in what militants called a response to the mistreatment of Muslim converts by Egyptian Copts.
The group threatened to attack Egyptian Copts if their church did not free two Christians, it said had been "imprisoned in their monasteries" for having converted to Islam.
The two women were Camilia Chehata and Wafa Constantine, the wives of Coptic priests whose claimed conversion caused a stir in Egypt.
[11][14] An explosive device detonated in front of the Coptic Orthodox church of Saint Mark and Pope Peter in the Sidi Bishr neighbourhood in Alexandria.
[5][12][14] Initial reports stated that it was a car explosion, however an Interior Ministry statement later declared that it was a suicide attack, through the Egyptian official news agency.
[4][5][12][15][16] At the time of the blast, several thousand Coptic Christians were attending midnight prayer service at the church at the occasion of the new year.
[16] The Interior Ministry stated that the bomb was filled with small pieces of metal to serve as shrapnel,[17] and that a foreign-backed suicide bomber may have been responsible.
[17] Egypt's former Interior minister Habib Ibrahim El Adly said on 23 January that evidence proved that the Gaza-based Army of Islam planned and executed the attack.
The group, which has received sanctuary from Hamas and earlier collaborated in the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit,[18][19][20][21] quickly denied the charge, while also reportedly expressing support for the bombing.
[29] The demonstration lasted for six hours and was joined by both government and opposition members of the Egyptian parliament and a number of political figures, including a former minister and Tomorrow Party founder Ayman Nour.
[30][31] In addition, thousands of Coptic Christians demonstrated outside the Egyptian ministry of foreign affairs and the state television buildings for two consecutive days.
[5] The Synod of priests in Alexandria unanimously criticized the lax attitude of the Egyptian authorities towards the public expression of hatred against Coptic Christians.
[35] The Coptic Orthodox Church in Britain issued an official statement condemning the massacre, and expressing concern that incidents of violence and terror against Christians in Egypt were increasingly spiraling out of control.
[44] Refaa al-Tahtawi, spokesman for Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's main institution based in Cairo, appeared on television to denounce the attack, which he said targeted "Egyptian national unity".
[46] On the eve of the Coptic Christmas on 6 January 2011, Egyptian Muslims showed up at churches during mass service offering to serve as a "human shield" against any possible further attacks.
[30][31][48] Interior minister Habib al-Adly said on 23 January that evidence proved that the Gaza-based Army of Islam planned and executed the attack.
When Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin submitted a report about the past four and a half years, he stated clearly that Israel was exploiting the peace treaty in order to infiltrate Egypt.
[50]Egypt's general prosecutor opened probe on former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly's reported role in the New Year's Eve bombing.
[30][31][32] In addition to Bishop Youanis, Pope Shenouda III delegated Metropolitan Bakhomios to preside over the funeral of those killed in Alexandria.
A "death list" of the names and personal information of more than a hundred Copts, many of whom live in Egypt, Europe and North America, was published in 2010 on an Al Qaida-affiliated website.