Story highlights Egyptian President has fired the director of security of the province where one bombing happened

But it's unlikely that one firing will remedy the profound shortcomings of Egyptian security, says Ben Wedeman

(CNN) Fashil -- "failed" -- that's how many Egyptians, particularly Coptic Christians, are describing their government's handling of security in Egypt in the aftermath of the Palm Sunday bombings in Alexandria and Tanta.

The bombings, claimed by ISIS , left at least 43 dead and almost 120 wounded.

Video posted on Facebook shows an angry crowd surrounding, then beating, Maj. Gen. Hussam Ad-Din Khalifa, director of security in Gharbiya Province -- where Tanta is located -- when he tried inspecting the damage at the Church of Mar Girgis, or St. George. Shortly afterward, President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi relieved Khalifa of his duties. Protesters in Alexandria are demanding the resignation of the interior minister.

It's unlikely, however, that throwing one security official under the bus -- a favorite tactic of Egyptian rulers -- will remedy the profound shortcomings of Egyptian security, underscored by a long series of terror attacks in the country going back decades.

Photos: Church bombing in Tanta, Egypt Security personnel survey the scene of a bomb blast at St. George's Church in Tanta, Egypt, on Palm Sunday. Hide Caption 1 of 6 Photos: Church bombing in Tanta, Egypt Members of the congregation mourn inside St. George's. Hide Caption 2 of 6 Photos: Church bombing in Tanta, Egypt A priest looks at the damage inside the church. Hide Caption 3 of 6 Photos: Church bombing in Tanta, Egypt Security personnel bag a cross as evidence. Hide Caption 4 of 6 Photos: Church bombing in Tanta, Egypt Priests sit next to security personnel investigating the scene of the bombing. Hide Caption 5 of 6 Photos: Church bombing in Tanta, Egypt People gather in front of St. George's Church after the bombing. Hide Caption 6 of 6

Egypt's security apparatus is vast, including the regular police and an array of intelligence agencies with unknown budgets employing hundreds of thousands of uniformed officers and informers. Egyptian and international human rights groups have long accused Egypt's security services of wholesale abuse, torture and extrajudicial killings.

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