Cairo Outside St Mark's Cathedral, the seat of the Coptic Orthodox
Pope, a dozen high-ranking police officers are stationed at all
entrances, searching cars and scanning the area, as security measures
are visibly beefed up outside churches before Easter prayers on Sunday.The usually festive occasion is tainted with fearful apprehension after twin bombings in two cities killed 45 Coptic Christians on Palm Sunday.
The increased security measures on display outside churches across the country are meant to restore a sense of security for Egypt's Copts amid a war on the embattled minority declared by the Islamist State group, which has claimed responsibility for Sunday's bombings.
President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi declared a three-month state of emergency following the Palm Sunday attacks.