Feature: With deep grief, mourners farewell Copts killed in Egypt's Alexandria church blast

Tawfiq Fahim broke down in tears near the flower-decked coffin of his cousin Nessim Fahim who was killed Sunday in the suicide bombing attack that hit Saint Mark's Church in Egypt's Alexandria governorate.

Thousands of weeping mourners took part in an emotional funeral Mass in Saint Mina Coptic Monastery in Alexandria for the victims of the terrorist attack which killed 11 Christians and six Muslim police officers.

Also on Sunday, another explosion rocked a Coptic church in the Egyptian Nile Delta city of Tanta, killing 28 and injuring 85 others.

In a statement published on its so-called "Amaq" news website, the Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the bombings of two churches that were crowded with believers observing Palm Sunday, an important feast that falls on Sunday before Easter.

Standing next to his cousin's coffin, Tawfiq, a man in his fifties, said that his deceased cousin sacrificed his life to save thousands of Christians inside the church.

Tawfiq said that his cousin was a church guard and he prevented the suicide bomber from entering the church through the gate he guarded after he doubted him.

"He asked the suicide attacker to the main gate where police officers stand guard ... minutes later the attacker blew himself up before he entered the church," he said as tears rolled down his cheeks.

As young scouts beat the drums, mourners rushed to shoulder the coffins of seven victims, moving them into the church for funeral Mass.

Tears, cries and weep were the main features of the scene when the coffins lined the prayers' place.

It was heartbreaking for everyone, even for Muslim mourners.

Amina Farag, a 50-something Muslim lady from Alexandria, could not hold her tears when she saw the caskets of three of her neighbors.

"We have been good neighbors for over 20 years. We were like one family," the lady said, almost sobbing as she spoke.

Farag said terrorists want to spoil the good relations between Muslims and Christians in Egypt, adding they will never succeed in doing so.

Naeem Somail, 52-year old, who also lost a cousin in the attack, agreed with Farag, saying terrorists targeted all Egyptians, not only Christians.

"They could not beat the army, then they turned to attack the Christians to make a wedge between Muslims and Christians. But we all stand united to show the terrorists that we are one people and our unity can never be broken," Somail said.

Just right after the attacks, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi declared in a televised statement a three-month state of emergency in the Arab country.

"This treacherous terrorism targets the nation with its citizens, both Copts and Muslims, and it will never break the determination of the Egyptians and their true will to confront the powers of evil," Sisi said in the statement.

Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt's population. They have largely coexisted peacefully with the Muslim-majority public for centuries.

At the end of 2016, at least 29 people were killed and 31 wounded in an explosion that targeted the Cathedral of Saint Mark in the Abbasia district in Cairo.

Egypt has been fighting a terrorist wave that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the military removed former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 and blacklisted his Muslim Brotherhood group as "a terrorist organization."

Mostly claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the IS regional militia, the terrorist attacks focused on security forces in restive North Sinai in the beginning, but after massive security raids that killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects, terrorists started to target the Coptic minority in the most populous Arab country. Endit