Unidentified gunmen opened fire and killed at least seven people who were on board a bus bound for a Coptic Christian monastery in Upper Egypt, AP quoted a church official as saying. The archbishop of Minya told Reuters that 14 people sustained injuries in the attack.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Attacks against Coptic Christians, who account for 10% of the nation’s population, have been on the rise since 2017. In April 2017, bombings in Alexandria and Tanta on Palm Sunday killed 45 people. The attack came four months after a chapel adjoining Cairo’s main St Mark’s cathedral was targeted, killing 28 people. The cathedral is the seat of Coptic Pope Tawadros II.
The Egyptian government declared a three-month state of emergency after the attacks in Tanta and Alexandria. The following month, the Islamic State group killed 29 Copts travelling to a monastery.
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