Militants kill Christian plumber in Sinai

EL-ARISH, Egypt — Suspected Islamic militants gunned down a Christian man inside his home in northern Sinai, officials and a priest said Friday, the latest in a string of sectarian killings in Egypt.

The militants Thursday stormed the home of Kamel Youssef, a plumber, and shot him to death in front of his wife and children in the town of el-Arish, said two security officials and the priest.

The officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, as did the priest, fearing retaliation by militants. The priest said initial reports that the man’s daughter was kidnapped and killed turned out to be incorrect.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Egypt’s Islamic State group affiliate, which is based in the Sinai Peninsula and in December carried out a suicide bombing against a Cairo church, vowed in a video earlier this week to step up attacks against the Coptic Christian minority. It described them as “infidels” empowering the West against Muslims.