Masked gunmen kill 28 in attack on Christians in Egypt

Record ID: 875948

  • Title: Masked gunmen kill 28 in attack on Christians in Egypt
  • Date: 26th May 2017
  • Summary: MINYA, EGYPT (MAY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) ROAD SIGN READING (Arabic): "SAINT SAMUEL MONASTERY ENTRANCE" SECURITY FORCES STANDING AT ENTRANCE TO MONASTERY CARS LINED UP AT ATTACK SITE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE STOPPED BY SECURITY, AREA SECURED WITH YELLOW TAPE VARIOUS OF FORENSICS AND SECURITY PERSONNEL INSPECTING AREA AROUND BUS THAT WAS ATTACKED CARS LINED UP AT ATTACK SITE FORENSICS AND SECURITY PERSONNEL INSPECTING AREA AROUND BUS
  • Embargoed: 9th June 2017 17:12
  • Keywords: Saint Samuel the Confessor in Minya province monastery in southern Egypt Coptic Christians truck Gunmen attack buses
  • Location: MINYA, EGYPT
  • City: MINYA, EGYPT
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016IH7P6V
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Gunmen attacked a group of Coptic Christians travelling to a monastery in southern Egypt on Friday (May 26), killing 28 people and wounding 24, with many children among the victims, Health Ministry officials said.
    Eyewitnesses said masked men opened fire after stopping the Christians, who were in a bus and other vehicles. Local TV channels showed a bus apparently raked by gunfire and smeared with blood. Clothes and shoes could be seen lying in and around the bus.
    Police armed with assault rifles formed a security perimeter and officials from the public prosecutor's office were gathering evidence and fingerprints. Heavily armed special forces arrived later wearing face masks and body armour.
    The attack took place on a road leading to the monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor in Minya province, which is home to a sizeable Christian minority. An Interior Ministry spokesman said the unidentified gunmen had arrived in three four-wheel-drive vehicles.
    Security forces launched a hunt for the attackers, setting up dozens of checkpoints and patrols on the desert road.
    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which came on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan. It followed a series of church bombings claimed by Islamic State in a campaign of violence against the Copts.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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