On Friday, 25 people including children were shot down by 10 gunmen in three cars. A bus was carrying Coptic Christians South of Cairo when three cars came across the path of the buses and shot repeatedly at them. The incident left 25 people wounded by terrorists targeting the Christian minority group.
The men were dressed in military uniform and carried out the attack. The shooting happened at Al-Idwah district outside of Minya and about 220 kilometers South of Cairo. The people were at an unpaved desert road on their way to the Monastery of Saint Samuel, located near Maghagha.
Bishop Makarios, the highest Coptic church official in Minya reported, “The terrorists got on the bus and began shooting. The injuries are straight shots to the head, body and the neck.”
Horrific pictures of the attack were released showing a number of innocent civilians lying in blood stained sand.
Among the victims were children as young as two and four. On Friday evening, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi gave a speech on a nationwide broadcast and said, “If Egypt falls, so will the rest of the world. Egypt will not hesitate at all to strike terrorist camps anywhere.”
Following the broadcast were six airstrikes carried out by fighter jets attacking the camps near Derna, Libya. These camps have been claimed to be the place where militants responsible for the attack were training.
The people of Minya rioted on the streets after Friday’s attack. Minya has the biggest population of Coptic Christians in Egypt. The Christians have been complaining of the increasing danger to their people in the town. The Christians have been subjected to continuous violence against them including stabbings and burning of their holy places. Another incident that shocked most was an old Coptic Christian lady was stripped and paraded around the town.
The Muslim leaders in Egypt rushed to condemn the attack and so close to the holy month of Ramadan.
The state linked Islamic authority in Egypt released a statement on Facebook that read, “These traitors violated Islam’s principles by spilling blood and terrorizing others, and broke their vows [of protection] by targeting Christian brothers, who are our partners in the homeland.”
Al-Azhar Grand Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb also released a statement through the institution’s Facebook page, “Neither Muslim nor Christian approves of the Minya attack, which targets the stability in Egypt. I call upon all Egyptians to unite in the face of this brutal terrorism.”
Although, the people of Derna, Libya raised a voice and stated that the places attacked by Egypt were civilian towns and civilian homes were destroyed.
