Islamic militants’ ambush of Christian pilgrims in Egypt kills 7

Islamic militants MINYA, EGYPT — on Friday ambushed three buses carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing seven and wounding 19, according to the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Interior Ministry.

All but one of those killed were members of the same family, according to a list of the victims’ names released by the church.

The local Islamic State affiliate that spearheads militants fighting security forces in the Sinai Peninsula claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the extremist group’s Amaaq news agency.

Though its claim could be not immediately verified, IS has repeatedly stated its intention to target Egypt’s Christians as punishment for their support of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

As defense minister, el-Sissi led the military’s 2013 ouster of an Islamist president, whose one-year rule proved divisive. It has claimed responsibility for a string of deadly attacks on Christians dating back to December 2016.

El-Sissi, who has made the economy and security his top priorities since taking office in 2014, wrote on his Twitter account that Friday’s attack was designed to harm the “nation’s solid fabric” and pledged to continue fighting terrorism. He later offered his condolences when he spoke by telephone with Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt’s Orthodox Christians and a close el-Sissi ally.

The attack is likely to cast a dark shadow on one of el-Sissi’s showpieces — the World Youth Forum — which opens today in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and hopes to draw thousands of local and foreign youth to discuss upcoming projects, with Egypt’s 63-year-old leader taking center stage.

Friday’s attack is the second to target pilgrims heading to the St. Samuel the Confessor monastery in as many years, indicating that security measures in place since then are either inadequate or have become lax. The previous attack in May 2017 left nearly 30 people dead.

It is also the latest by IS to target Christians in churches in Cairo, the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and Tanta in the Nile Delta north of the capital.