67 others were wounded, said Lieutenant General Hussein Kamal, a deputy interior minister.

Church officials described the attack, which began when gunmen seized the Our Lady of Salvation Church during Sunday mass, as the bloodiest against Iraq's Christians in the seven years of sectarian war that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

The Islamic State of Iraq, the al Qaeda-affiliated group which claimed responsibility, also threatened the Christian church in Egypt over its treatment of women the group said the church was holding after they had converted to Islam.

Egypt condemned the threat to its Christian community, which makes up about 10 percent of the country's 78 million people. It beefed up security around churches.

Iraqi Human Rights Minister Wijdan Michael, a Christian, said at the scene of the Baghdad attack: "What happened was more than a catastrophic and tragic event. In my opinion, it is an attempt to force Iraqi Christians to leave Iraq and to empty Iraq of Christians."

Reuters