Nirmīn Nabīl, who was wounded by the attack in Alexandria on New Year's day, says "If the bishop had finished saying mass two minutes earlier, the bloodbath could have been worse." Nabīl left the church before the end of the mass while hundred of people were still inside. Twenty-one people were killed and 43 injured after the mass at the Church of the two Saints, Saint Mark and Pope Peter, when the explosion occurred.

Police investigators analyzed the remains of the car suspected to be used in the attack, searching for clues as to who is responsible. In the morning, dozens of Christians protested outside the church.

Nabīl complains that the security services did nothing to protect Christians: they allowed the car thought to be used in the attack to park there, despite a ban from the authorities.

After the attack, 200 Muslims carrying sticks and stones charged the church-run clinic where the wounded people were being held; while angry Christians demonstrated outside a mosque, damaging the door and windows.

The Two Saints Church also witnessed clashes between Muslims and Copts nearly two years ago, when a man ran into the church wielding a knife.