A gunman on Friday killed at least nine people before being shot dead during an attack on a church in the city of Helwan, south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, AP reported. One of those killed was a police officer.
Egypt’s Health Ministry Spokesperson Khaled Megahed confirmed the toll.
Later, the BBC reported a second attack on a shop owned by a Coptic Christian in the same area. The report said two people were killed here.
No terrorist group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack in Helwan, which took place at the Coptic Orthodox Church of Marmina. Five security guards were wounded, Al Jazeera reported.
Christians make up about 10% of the country’s population, and most of them belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church.
The Egyptian government had declared a three-month state of emergency in April after two explosions at Coptic churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria claimed at least 44 lives. The blasts took place while the churches were full of people observing Palm Sunday, an especially holy day for the community. The Islamic State group had claimed responsibility for those attacks.
In May, the Islamic State had killed 29 Copts travelling to a monastery in central Egypt.
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