MERRIT KENNEDY
Associated Press
CAIRO (AP) — Two bombs went off in a city in northern Egypt late Thursday, striking a Sufi Muslim religious festival and wounding 11 people, officials said, the latest in a spate of attacks that have targeted Egyptian government forces, institutions and public gatherings.
The bombs were placed behind a mosque and went off near-simultaneously in the Nile Delta city of Tanta were residents and pilgrims crowded the streets, observing the Festival of Sheikh el-Sayyed Ahmed el-Baddawi, a revered 13th century religious figure. The festival draws massive crowds every year. Sufism is a mystic branch of Islam.
Most of the victims were wounded by flying shrapnel, said Magdy Awad, chairman of the local ambulance services. The victims were taken to the Tanta University Hospital and none were reported to be in critical condition.
The number of casualties could have been higher but a bomb squad was able to dismantle a third explosive device, which had also been placed near the mosque, an Egyptian security official told The Associated Press. He official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Egypt has been grappling with militant attacks, suicide bombings and assassinations since the military ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013, following massive demonstrations demanding his resignation.
Morsi’s ouster and subsequent crackdown on his supporters — with more than 1,000 people killed and thousands more arrested — sparked a wave of attacks, primarily against security forces.
Most of the major attacks were carried out by al-Qaida-inspired groups, such as Ansar Beit al-Maqdis or Champions of Jerusalem. The group is based in the northern region of the Sinai Peninsula where the Egyptian army has been waging an offensive against militants for the past year.
On Tuesday night, a home-made bomb went off on a busy street in downtown Cairo, wounding 12 people. Authorities said that blast was caused by a bomb placed in the vicinity of a court house.
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