Ten-year-old's death raises Cairo church bombing toll to 27

A 10-year-old girl died on Tuesday of wounds suffered in a Cairo church bombing claimed by the Islamic State group this month, bringing the death toll to 26, plus one suicide bomber.

Maggie Moemen, who was suffering from shrapnel in the head and damage to her lungs, had been in a coma since the 11 December suicide attack at the St. Peter and Saint Paul church, the seat of the Egyptian pope and the country's main church.

Seventeen people remain in hospital including three in serious condition, the health ministry said.

Among the wounded was Maggie's mother, Nermine, who survived the attack but suffered several injuries. Her sister, Mira, was outside the church during the attack and was not wounded.

Maggie's funeral was held at the same church, her cousin Madonna Wassef said on Facebook.

"Almost everyone was dressed in white and the church was decorated with white flowers," Wassef said.

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"It was a celebration of the life she lived rather than a lamentation over her violent death," she added.

"I pray for the victims of terrorism everywhere in the world. We are a lot more similar than it seems."

One day after the attack, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi named 22-year-old Mahmoud Shafiq Mohamed Mostafa as the suicide bomber, during a funeral for the victims, while the interior ministry blamed members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood organisation residing in Qatar.

Four other people suspected of involvement in the attack, including one woman, have been arrested pending investigation into the case.

Meanwhile, IS identified the suicide bomber by the pseudonym Abu Abdallah al-Masri.

Egyptian authorities are battling an Islamist insurgency, mostly in North Sinai province. Some attacks have targeted security forces and officials in Cairo.

The attacks have worsened since the July 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in a military coup led by then army chief Sisi.

This month's bombing during mass was the deadliest attack to target Egypt's minority Coptic Christians since a 2011 suicide bombing killed more than 20 worshippers outside a church in the coastal city of Alexandria.

Last week, Egypt's Coptic Catholic Church announced it was cancelling this year's Christmas celebrations at its churches in solidarity with the Coptic Orthodox Church over the bombing, which took place at one of its churches.

Egypt's Coptic Catholic Church celebrates Christmas on 25 December as per the Gregorian calender, while the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on 7 January as per the Julian calender.