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The Latest: Death toll from Egypt church bombing rises to 21

Associated Press
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Pope Francis celebrates a Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 9, 2017. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (The Associated Press)

Relatives and onlookers gather outside a church after a bomb attack in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, Egypt, Sunday, April 9, 2017. The attack took place on Palm Sunday, the start of the Holy Week leading up to Easter, when the church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta was packed with worshippers. (AP Photo/Ahmed Hatem) (The Associated Press)

Relatives and onlookers gather outside a church after a bomb attack in the Nile Delta town of Tanta, Egypt, Sunday, April 9, 2017. The attack took place on Palm Sunday, the start of the Holy Week leading up to Easter, when the church in the Nile Delta town of Tanta was packed with worshippers. (AP Photo/Ahmed Hatem) (The Associated Press)

The Latest on a church bombing north of the Egyptian capital (all times local):

11 a.m.

An Egyptian official says a church bombing north of Cairo has killed 21 people and wounded another 38.

Magdi Awad, the head of the provincial ambulance service, confirmed the toll from the bombing of a church in Tanta that was packed with Palm Sunday worshippers.

No one immediately claimed the attack.

Coptic Christians make up 10 percent of Egypt's population and have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists.

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10:15 a.m.

Egypt state media says a bomb has gone off in a church in the Nile Delta, causing casualties.

The MENA news agency attributed the report to unnamed Interior Ministry officials, who provided no further details.

The explosion took place in the town of Tanta as Coptic Christians were marking Palm Sunday. Christians make up around 10 percent of Egypt's population and have repeatedly been targeted by Islamic extremists.