Gunman kills Coptic Christians in attack at Egyptian church
A GUNMAN shot dead worshippers outside a church in Cairo yesterday, in the latest deadly attack on the Christian minority.
The masked assailant had first fired at a Christian-owned electronics shop three miles away, killing brothers Romani and Attia Shaker, before proceeding to the Mar Mina church in the southern suburb of Helwan, where he began shooting and tried to throw an explosive device.
He shot two police guards – who had been assigned to protect the church ahead of Coptic Christmas next week – killing one and injuring another and then shot dead six worshippers.
Father Boules Younan, of the church, told The Daily Telegraph that 10 minutes after the service, they heard a burst of gunfire outside.
“I was taking confession at that moment and I rushed out my office and told all those who were left to get into the room and then locked everyone inside,” he said.
He said the gunman exchanged fire with the guards outside until they ran out of bullets. He then tried to enter the church but a member of the congregation had managed to close the door.
“Thank God for the big iron door, otherwise he would have got inside and there would have been a massacre,” said Mr Younan. “There were lots of children inside waiting for Bible studies to start.”
Yussuf Mohammed, a high school student, said he saw the gunman from his balcony overlooking the church.
“He was shooting only Christians and avoiding killing Muslims on the street,” he told The Telegraph outside his home. “He shot the guards and then I saw him carrying a machine gun trying to run away. He stopped a man with a motorcycle and tried to take it off him, but the guy didn’t let it go and the gunman just walked away.” He said there was a shoot-out when police ar- rived on the scene.
“They shot him in the shoulder and the leg and he kept shooting after he fell down injured,” he said. The suspect was handcuffed and taken for questioning.
A video was posted on Facebook, taken from a window in the area, showing the terrorist as he tried to make his escape. Some eyewitnesses said that the police shot him but others claimed it was a civilian.
Police announced plans earlier this week to protect festivities around the New Year and on Jan 7, Coptic Christmas, with checkpoints around the city – but they were not yet in place.
More than 100 Coptic Christians have been killed in a year, including in two bombings on Palm Sunday in April and a blast at Cairo’s largest Coptic cathedral last December that killed 28.
Christians, who make up about 10 per cent of Egypt’s population, have long complained of discrimination in the Muslim-majority nation, and say authorities have often failed to protect them from sectarian attacks.