Tag: Copts

IS claims deadly attack near old Egyptian monastery

April 20, 2017 Egypt Copts, El-Arish, Ismailia, Sinai

One policeman was killed and four others injured when gunmen opened fire near St. Catherine’s monastery in Egypt on Tuesday (18 April), reports Reuters. The attack, at a police checkpoint less than a kilometre from the monastery, was later claimed by the Islamic State group. It came a week after . . . Read More

Coptic boy, 16, ‘murdered by Islamic extremists seeking to scare Christians’

April 20, 2017 Egypt Copts, El-Arish, Islamic State, Minya, Palm Sunday, Sinai, Upper Egypt

An Egyptian Christian boy murdered on Holy Thursday (13 April) was killed by Islamic extremists hoping to further intimidate Christians in the run up to Easter, say his family. Allam Bashay Gabriel found his 16-year-old son, Gamal, with his throat slit and lying in a pool of blood, in Qai . . . Read More

Easter for Egypt’s Copts: mourning loved ones amid tight security

April 18, 2017 Egypt Alexandria, Beheira, Cairo, Copts, Kom El-Loufy, Tanta

During Easter Mass in St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria deacons carried pictures of the seven people killed in the Palm Sunday attack. Photo: Open Doors International

Christians in Egypt celebrated Easter amid tight security and in a sombre mood. While worshippers gathered in both Alexandria and Tanta, in the churches that were attacked last Sunday, authorities made a number of arrests in connection with other possible planned attacks. However, violence continued in Kom El-Loufy, in the . . . Read More

Muslims in Egypt speak out against Palm Sunday attacks

April 12, 2017 Egypt Copts, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Tanta

More than 20 people lost their lives in the Palm Sunday attack on the St George Cathedral in Tanta, Egypt.

As Egypt’s Coptic Church lays to rest the victims of the Palm Sunday bomb attacks on two churches, voices from the Muslim community in the country have condemned the attacks and Muslim citizens have lined up to donate blood for the injured. Writing a blog for the website Patheos, Khwaia . . . Read More

Egypt’s Christians mourn 49 killed in Palm Sunday church bombings

April 10, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Bishop Angaelos, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Palm Sunday, Pope Tawadros II, Tanta

Chaos in St George's cathedral, Tanta, after a suicide bomber blew himself up during the Palm Sunday liturgy

Egypt’s Christians are in mourning and profound shock after yesterday’s twin suicide bombing attacks on churches packed for Palm Sunday, which left at least 49 people dead and more than 110 injured. The Coptic Pope, Tawadros II, narrowly escaped injury, having just celebrated Mass in one of the cathedrals that . . . Read More

Bomb near Egyptian church defused amidst growing insecurity

April 4, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Copts, Egypt, Gharbia, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, Tanta

Egyptian security forces in the western province of Gharbia dismantled a bomb outside the Mary Girgis church in Tanta last week. Three days later, a group linked to the Muslim Brotherhood bombed a police training camp in the same city, killing one and injured 16. It was in Tanta, Egypt’s . . . Read More

Copts still homeless months after homes burnt down

March 16, 2017 Egypt Copts, Egypt, El-Arish, Kom El-Loufy, Minya, Sinai

Makeshift church in Minya burned down by extremists
Photo: Wataninet

In July last year, four Coptic homes were set on fire in a village 230km south of Cairo, following rumours the Copts planned to turn one of the houses into a church. Eight months later, the Copts – two brothers, Ashraf and Ibrahim Khalaf, and their families – are still . . . Read More

Killer of Coptic alcohol vendor sentenced to death

March 10, 2017 Egypt Alexandria, Copts

UPDATE (10 March) The murderer of a Coptic man killed “for selling alcohol” has been sentenced to death. Adel Soliman, 48, confessed to the murder of Youssef Lamei and said he would kill everyone who sold alcohol if he could, according to Egypt Independent. Lamei was killed as he sat . . . Read More

UPDATE: Missing Egyptian woman, 18, given new Muslim identity by security services

March 8, 2017 Egypt Copts, Egypt, Kidnapping, Luxor, Upper Egypt, Women

UPDATE (8 March) The brother of 18-year-old Hanan Girgis, an Egyptian Christian woman missing since 26 January, says he has been told she has a new Muslim identity and is being held by the security services. Rezeiky Girgis heard from the Civil Status Authority at Esna Police Station that Hanan . . . Read More

Merkel accused of downplaying attacks on Copts

March 3, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Al-Azhar, Copts, Egypt, North Africa, Pope Tawadros II, Sinai, Sunni

A leading German Catholic priest yesterday (2 March) criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel for “genuflecting” to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and failing to raise human-rights concerns as she headed to North Africa for trade talks. Joachim Schroedel, who has worked in Egypt for more than two decades, rejected Mrs . . . Read More

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