The news of the attack on worshippers during a service in a Coptic church in Cairo is truly dreadful.

More than twenty people, including many women and children, were killed in this bloody attack, and dozens more were injured.

We condemn this terrorist attack in the strongest possible terms, as we do the attacks on security forces in Cairo and Kafr El-Sheikh on Friday. We join the Egyptian people in mourning. We remember the victims, grieve with their families and wish the many injured a speedy recovery.

We stand by Egypt’s side in the fight against terrorism.

The fact that the Prophet’s birthday was chosen for an insidious attack on Christian worshippers shows the perfidious calculation behind the plan of the perpetrators and those pulling the strings to undermine the peaceful coexistence of people of different faiths through terrorist violence. We must do everything we can to ensure that they do not succeed.