2011 Alexandria bombing

 2011 Alexandria bombing (bombing,  false flag,  strategy of tension)

Date	1 January 2011
Location	Alexandria,  Egypt
Blamed on	Army of Islam
Deaths	23
Injured (non-fatal)	97
Description	An deadly attack on a church in Egypt to stoke tensions during the 2011 regime change.

The 2011 Alexandria bombing was an attack on Coptic Christians in Alexandria, Egypt, on Saturday, 1 January 2011. 23 people died and another 97 were injured as a result of the attack, which occurred as Christian worshipers were leaving a New Year service.

The attack was part of a strategy of tension during the Western-supported 2011 regime change in Egypt, and while both an Islamist group and the security forces were blamed for it, it is likely it was arranged by an outside force.

Bombing

An explosive device detonated in front of the Coptic Orthodox church of Saint Mark and Pope Peter in the Sidi Bishr neighbourhood in Alexandria. 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.

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. 21 Coptic Christians were killed immediately following the explosion, or soon after, and about 97 people – most of them Christians – were injured. Two more Copts died in the hospital over the few days following the attack, raising the total number to 23.

Forensic testing confirmed that the explosive device used was homemade and contained nails and ball-bearings. The Interior Ministry stated that the bomb was filled with small pieces of metal to serve as shrapnel, and that a foreign-backed suicide bomber may have been responsible. It is alleged security forces withdrew shortly before the attack.

Official narrative

Egypt's former Interior minister Habib Ibrahim El Adly said on 23 January that evidence proved that the Gaza-based Army of Islam (Jundullah) planned and executed the attack. The group, which has received sanctuary from Hamas and earlier collaborated in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, quickly denied the charge, while also reportedly expressing support for the bombing.

The international press immediately tried to stoke the flames by reporting of "secterian tensions".

Misdirection

On February 7, 2011, just before the regime change and President Mubarak's resignation on February 11, Egypt's general prosecutor opened a probe to investigate news media reports suggesting that the former interior ministry had masterminded the deadly church attack with the intent to blame it on Islamists, escalate government crackdown on them, and gain increased western support for the government.

According the UK diplomatic sources quoted in the reports, the former interior minister had built up in over six years a special security system that was managed by 22 officers and that employed a number of former radical Islamists, drug dealers and some security firms to carry out acts of sabotage around the country in case the government was under threat to collapse.

In July 2011 however, nobody had yet been brought to trial and the Coptic Church threatened to sue the Interior Ministry.

Third Force

However, the claim that the false flag was to "gain increased western support for the government" is dubious, as it was Western governments, Britain and the United States and in all likelihood Israel, which masterminded the regime change, with extensive support to NGOs, "independent media" and other groups. Both Britain and Israel have a history of false flag attacks in Egypt. Israel has long cooperated with Islamists in Egypt.

During this time, Britain insisted on the immediate departure of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his government, especially his interior ministry's security apparatus previously directed by el-Adly.

According to British sources, Egyptian security forces in the beginning of January arrested Ahmed Mohamed Khaled, who had spent 11 years in Egyptian prisons and allegedly worked as an agent provocateur, and a Jundullah leader named Mohammed Abdelhadi. Khaled reportedly told the group he could assist with providing weapons he had allegedly obtained from Gaza and that the act was meant to "discipline the Copts." They stayed in detention until Jan. 28 when the ministry of interior and its security system broke down allowing them to escape as did thousands of prisoners around the country.

When they fled, both the men allegedly - and curiously - went straight to the UK embassy in Cairo and told the story of how they were set up by the government to carry out terrorist attacks.

 

The Official Culprit

Name
Army of Islam

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