Gunmen slay dozens of Christians

CAIRO: Gunmen in military fatigues opened fire on a bus carrying members of Egypt’s Coptic Christian minority killing at least 26 people, including children, the latest in a string of militant attacks targeting the community.

Another 24 were wounded in the assault in Minya province, some 200km south of Cairo, said Ministry of Health spokesman Khaled Mogahed.

The Copts were on their way to the St Samuel monastery, according to Minya’s governor, Issam al-Bedewi.

Bishop Anba Ermia, president of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Centre, said on Twitter that the attack may have killed as many as 35 people in a convoy of vehicles.

The attack came days after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi joined US President Donald Trump and top Arab leaders to launch a new centre in the Saudi capital Riyadh to combat the Islamist ideologies behind terrorism.

“They’re hitting at countries’ weakest points,” said Sami Nader, head of the Beirutbased Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs.

“It’s not a classic war. Tanks, fighter jets are not fit to counter this kind of threat.”

The morning assault began when about 10 men wearing military-style clothing opened fire, according to Maj Mohamed Abdel-Moneim, who’s with the Minya security directorate.

It occurred in upper Egypt, an area where militants had previously been active in the 1990s and 2000s, especially in fighting between the government and the Sunni group Gamaa al-Islamiya. Tensions between Muslims and Christians frequently flare.

Back-to-back bombings at two Egyptian Coptic churches in April killed more than three dozen people.

It was the deadliest assault in years on the community, widely estimated to make up about 10% of Egypt’s 92 million residents.

That attack was claimed by Islamic State, whose local affiliate has said it would focus attention on the Copts.

Following the church bombings, Mr Sissi declared a three-month state of emergency and created an anti-terrorism body.

The government’s war with the militants — most of whose attacks have been in the eastern Sinai region — has strained the country’s effort to revive an economy battered by years of unrest.