The New Year's day bombing of a church in Alexandria has left many in Egypt's Coptic Christian community frustrated and nervous, judging by the protests for the third night in a row.<br /><br />The attack was the worst in a decade and its aftermath is still being felt, with MENA, the official Egyptian news agency, reporting on Tuesday that the death toll had risen to 23.<br /><br />Young Christians began protesting in Cairo and Alexandria on Sunday, calling for more protection from the authorities.<br /><br />No clear official account has emerged of how the attack was carried out, but analysts point to a small cell, not a larger armed group like those behind the Islamist uprising that flared more than a decade ago.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Cairo, says Egypt now faces an especially difficult task: how to make the country's ancient Christian minority feel secure while dealing with what is being seen as an al-Qaeda-inspired attack on its doorstep.<br /><br />There have been numerous internet threats since the New Year's attack against Coptic churches in the Netherlands and Europe, including France and Britain.<br /><br />Christians account for about 10 per cent of Egypt's population of 79 million, which is mostly Muslim.<br /><br />Religious violence is rare but disputes on issues from church building to religious conversions and divorce have grown in the last year.<br /><br />Early last year, a drive-by shooting of six Christians and a Muslim policeman at a church in southern Egypt sparked protests.
