Man opens fire on Cairo church
At least nine killed in latest attack on Egypt’s Christians
A man on a motorcycle opened fire Friday outside a church in a Cairo suburb and at a nearby store, sparking a shootout that killed at least nine people, including eight Coptic Christians, Egyptian authorities said. It was the latest attack targeting the country’s embattled Christian minority.
The attacker was also killed, along with at least one police officer, officials said.
The local affiliate of the extremist Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack late Friday, saying it was carried out by a “security detail” and that one of its men was “martyred” in the strike.
The attack began when the man tried to break through the security cordon outside the Coptic Church of Mar Mina. It was not clear how many assailants were involved. Egypt’s Interior Ministry referred to only one, but the Coptic Orthodox church mentioned “gunmen.”
Five people were wounded, including another police officer, Health Ministry spokesperson Khaled Megahed said.
The attack came amid tightened security around churches and Christian facilities ahead of the Coptic Orthodox Christian celebrations of Christmas on Jan. 7. Police have been stationed outside churches and in nearby streets across Cairo. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has personally chaired meetings with his top security chiefs in recent days to discuss security during New Year’s Eve and the Orthodox Christmas.
A video circulating on social media after Friday’s attack apparently showed the attacker lying on the ground with his face covered in blood. Authorities closed off the area around the church.
The Interior Ministry identified the assailant as Ibrahim Ismail Mostafa, who, the agency said, was involved in several previous militant attacks.
The assailant had earlier opened fire at the nearby store owned by a Christian, the Interior Ministry said.
The insurgency led by the affiliate of the extremist Islamic State group is centred in the turbulent northern part of Sinai, but has also carried out attacks in the mainland.
The militants are targeting mainly security personnel and Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority.
The latest attack, in the southern Cairo suburb of Helwan, showcases the difficulties faced by security forces in containing an insurgency that is growing in sophistication and brutality. The assault came a little more than a month after militants killed 311 worshippers inside a mosque in Sinai, the deadliest attack by militants on civilians in Egypt’s modern history.
Last week, they fired a guided rocket that destroyed an army helicopter at the airport of the City of elArish in northern Sinai during an unannounced visit there by the defence and interior ministers. At least one senior officer was killed and two wounded in that attack.
Since December 2016, Egypt’s Copts have been targeted by the militants, who waged a series of attacks that left more than 100 dead and scores wounded. The country has been under a state of emergency since April after suicide bombings struck two Coptic Christian churches on Palm Sunday.
Christians make up about 10 per cent of Egypt’s population. They have long complained of discrimination in the Muslim-majority nation and claim that authorities have often failed to protect them from sectarian attacks.
Just last week, hundreds of Muslim demonstrators stormed an unlicensed church south of Cairo, wounding three people. The demonstrators shouted anti-Christian slogans and called for the church’s demolition, according to the local diocese.
The demonstrators destroyed the church’s fittings and assaulted Christians before security personnel arrived and dispersed them.