Saint Mark's Cathedral suicide bomber identity, origin revealed

CAIRO – 13 April 2017: Investigations conducted by the National Homeland Security in Suez and the Suez Security Directorate identified the suicide bomber in Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral bombing, now known to be a member of the

Islamic State

group, as 30-year-old Mahmoud Hassan Mubarak.


30-year-old Mahmoud Hassan Mubarak.

According to investigations, Hassan was tasked by a Suez terrorist cell led by fugitive-cum-extremist Amr Saad Abbas to target the cathedral. Abbas has also been identified as Hassan’s brother-in-law.

The death toll of the bombing reached 17, while 48 others were injured.

Hassan was born in Qena, an Egyptian city on the east bank of the Nile, about 650km from Cairo.


Qena is 650km from Tanta.

Saad is thought to have brainwashed Hassan into embracing extremist ideas, encouraging him to commit this latest terrorist assault.


CCTV footage shows Mahmoud Hassan approaching the Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral.

Investigations revealed that Hassan moved to Suez about 12 months ago, where he worked at a petroleum company, and that he had suddenly disappeared a few days before the bombing.

During interrogations, Hassan’s family revealed they did not have any explanation for Mahmoud’s actions. They confirmed, however, that he had travelled to a certain Arab country to work for a year, and returned to Qena before travelling to Suez.

They also explained that they have been living side-by-side with Christians for years and had only mutual respect and love for them.

Intel by the Interior Ministry revealed that there were a number of terrorist groups in Asyut that received their training by watching online videos and imitating them.

Security forces managed to track down the locations of these groups, killing seven members as they resisted arrest. The other members are still at large.

Investigations by security authorities have confirmed that Mohab Al-Sayed, also known as El-Doctor, is heavily involved in a number of the recent terrorist attacks in Egypt.

Sayed travelled to Doha in 2015 where he allegedly contacted some fugitive Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Reports indicate that he was offered financial and logistical support to carry out attacks in Egypt through a number of cells in Qena, the Red Sea, Suez and Cairo.

Security authorities are currently conducting further investigations to track down the remaining terrorists (reported to be about 20) responsible for the recent

bombings

in addition to previous attacks.