Islamic State claims Cairo church attack that killed 25

But jihadists name different bomber than one identified by Egyptian authorities using DNA evidence

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on a Cairo church that killed 25 people, in a statement circulated on social media on Tuesday.

Suicide bomber Abu Abdallah al-Masri carried out Sunday’s attack, the group said in the statement, one day after authorities named the bomber as Mahmoud Shafik Mohamed Mostafa.

The bomber “got in between the crowd” and detonated his explosive belt, the jihadist group said in the statement.

The group said it would continue attacks against “every infidel and apostate in Egypt, and everywhere.”

Egyptians shout slogans as they gather outside the the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo's Abbasiya neighborhood after it was targeted by a bomb explosion on December 11, 2016, (AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED METEAB) — Egyptians shout slogans as they gather outside the the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Coptic Orthodox Church in Cairo’s Abbasiya neighborhood after it was targeted by a bomb explosion on December 11, 2016, (AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED METEAB)

Police arrested three men and one woman on suspicion of assisting the suicide bomber who carried out Sunday’s attack during a service at the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi announced on Monday.

They will ask prosecutors to remand the four in custody for up to 15 days while the investigation continues.

One of the four, identified by the interior ministry as Rami Mohamed Abdel Hameed Abdel Ghani, is suspected of hiding the explosives and the bomber, and of preparing him for the attack.

The president named the bomber as Mostafa, 22. The interior ministry said he was identified by DNA tests.

Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority accounts for up to 10 percent of the population and has long complained of persecution and discrimination.

The church targeted in Sunday’s bombing lies next to Saint Mark’s Cathedral, the seat of Coptic Pope Tawadros II. Police are searching for several other suspects.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, right, visits Coptic Pope Tawadros II, during Christmas Eve mass at St. Mark's Cathedral, in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File) — Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, right, visits Coptic Pope Tawadros II, during Christmas Eve mass at St. Mark’s Cathedral, in Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty, File)

The interior ministry named the suspected ringleader as Mohab Mostafa el-Sayed Qassem, also known as “The Doctor.”

It charged he had traveled to Qatar in 2015 to meet fugitive leaders of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, the party of president Mohammed Morsi, who was ousted by Sissi in 2013.

The Brotherhood has condemned the bombing and denied any involvement.