Update: Isis Claims Responsibility For Coptic Church Bombings In Egypt Today

Today's Palm Sunday attacks on Christian churches in Tanta and Alexandria kill at least 36 people and injure more than 100.

Isis claimed responsibility for two bomb blasts which struck Coptic churches in Egypt on Sunday, killing at least 47 members of the country’s largest religious minority as they celebrated Palm Sunday.

A blast in the city of Tanta, some 90 km north of Cairo killed 29 and injured 71 as they prayed at the Mar Girgis church according to the Egyptian health ministry. A second blast struck the Egyptian port city of Alexandria three hours later, killing 18 and wounding 35.

The bombings were the latest in a series of assaults attacks on Egypt’s Christian minority, who account for about 10% of the population and have been repeatedly targeted by Islamic extremists. The attacks on Palm Sunday worshippers comes weeks before Pope Francis is due to visit Egypt.