Earlier today a series of bombings and mortar attacks targeting Christian areas killed at least five people in Baghdad, security sources said.

Six districts with strong Christian majorities were hit, and at least 24 people have been injured.
The attacks come days after more than 40 people died when Islamist militants seized a Catholic cathedral. Many in Iraq have voiced their solidarity with the plight of Coptic Christians in Egypt.

Hossam Bahgat is the founder and director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. He has played a prominent role in exposing the government’s failure to prosecute sectarian violence against Coptic Christians. He also speaks out against government violations of religious freedom, right to privacy and other civil liberties including abuses committed by Egypt’s powerful security apparatus.

Heba Morayef is a researcher for the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. They’re both based in Cairo.

Bahgat was recently in Chicago to receive the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism from Human Rights Watch.