Friday, May 26, 2017

Egypt - 37 killed in attack on vehicles carrying Coptic children visiting Minya Monastery of Anba.

Egypt - 26 killed in attack on vehicles carrying Coptic children visiting Minya Monastery of Anba. (alAhram)

The death toll of an attack by unknown assailants on three vehicles carrying Coptic Christians on the way to Saint Samuel Monastery in the east of El-Minya governorate on Friday has reached 26, with 25 injured, a spokesman for Egypt's health ministry announced.

Egypt’s interior ministry released details on the attack, saying in an official statement that unknown assailants driving three 4x4 wheelers attacked by "randomly shooting" the bus carrying the Copts.

The ministry added that an official count of the final death and injuries toll was underway.

A cordon was imposed around the site of the attack, with security forces intensifying efforts to catch the culprits, according to the statement.

President Abdel-Fatah El-Sisi called for an emergency security meeting to follow up on the attacks.

In a statement from the presidency, El-Sisi also instructed authorities to take all necessary measures to attend to the injured and arrest the assailants.

Egypt's Prosecutor-General Nabil Sadek has ordered an extensive investigation to arrest the attackers, Al-Ahram Arabic website reported.

The injured have been transferred to nearby hospitals for first aid and will later be moved to Nasser hospital in Cairo, according to health minister instructions, state news agency MENA reported.

The prime minister and the ministers of health and social are heading to the attack scene in El-Minya.

Al-Azhar Grand Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb condemned the attack, while on a visit to Berlin, saying that "such attacks can never satisfy a Muslim or a Christian."

The ages of the victims ranged from children to over 60, the bishop of El-Minya told Egyptian private-owned TV Channel DMC.

The Bishop added that the vehicles attacked included a minibus and two cars.

The Minya attack is the latest in a series of deadly attacks on Egypt’s Christians, following the Palm Sunday Suicide Bombings.

The Copts were heading to Upper Egypt’s Minya Monastery of Anba Samuel the Confessor, located at western Adwa City. More here (Graphic Pictures).





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