CAIRO: Gunmen attacked a bus carrying Coptic Christians in central Egypt on Friday, killing at least seven in the latest attack on a religious minority repeatedly targeted by militants.

The attackers opened fire on the bus in Minya, the province´s bishop told AFP. The gunmen "killed seven people and wounded 14, all of whom are in the Sheikh Fadel hospital in Beni Mazar" around 200 kilometres south of Cairo, said Bishop Makarios of Minya.

A security official confirmed the attack, adding that there were "dead and wounded". There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting. Copts, a Christian minority that make up 10 percent of Egypt´s 96 million people, have in recent years been repeatedly targeted by the Islamic State militant group.

IS killed more than 40 people in twin church bombings in April 2017 and a month later shot dead 28 Christians in Minya province as they headed to a monastery on a bus. </s> CAIRO, Egypt — Twenty-six people have been killed in Egypt after unidentified gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians in what officials are calling a terror attack.

Ten assailants wearing fatigues and face masks fired on the passengers from three four-wheel drive vehicles, Egypt’s Interior Ministry told CNN.

The Christians were traveling Friday to a monastery, St. Samuel the Confessor, around 100 km (62 miles) northwest of the city of Minya when they came under fire, the ministry said.

Twenty-five others were also injured, some of whom are now in critical condition, Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Mugahed told state-run TV al-Masriya. Men, women and children are among the dead and injured, and 50 ambulances are now at the scene, he said.

The attack comes as the country is still under a three-month state of emergency period following twin attacks on Coptic churches on Palm Sunday last month that killed dozens of people, in attacks claimed by ISIS.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the shooting, but Coptic Christians have been targeted by ISIS militants several times in recent years and ongoing violence has triggered a mass exodus of Coptic Christians from some towns.

Coptic Christians make up about 10% of Egypt’s population of 91 million. They base their theology on the teachings of the apostle Mark, who introduced Christianity to Egypt.

Persecution and discrimination against Egypt’s Coptic Christians has spiked since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in 2011.

In December, an attack on a Coptic church in Cairo killed 25 people.

Coptic churches and homes have been set on fire, members of the Coptic minority have been physically attacked, and their property has been looted, rights group Amnesty International reported in March.

A church in Minya was torched in 2013, gutting its interior. </s> Twenty-six people have been killed in Egypt after unidentified gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians, according to state-run media.

The passengers were traveling Friday to a monastery, St. Samuel the Confessor, near the central city of Minya when they came under attack, Health Ministry spokesman Khaled Mugahed told TV al-Masriya.

He said that 25 others were also injured as the gunmen fired from two cars on a desert road around 100 km (62 miles) west of Minya. Fifty ambulances are now at the scene.

There were men, women and children among the dead and injured, Mugahed said, some of whom are now in critical condition.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the shooting.

Coptic Christians have faced persecution and discrimination in Egypt, which has spiked since the toppling of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in 2011. Dozens have been killed in sectarian violence.

Coptic Christians make up about 10% of Egypt’s population of 91 million. They base their theology on the teachings of the apostle Mark, who introduced Christianity to Egypt.

The country is still under a three-month state of emergency period following twin attacks on Coptic churches in the country on Palm Sunday last month, in attacks claimed by ISIS.

In December, an attack on a Coptic church in Cairo killed 25 people.

Coptic churches and homes have been set on fire, members of the Coptic minority have been physically attacked, and their property has been looted, rights group Amnesty International reported in March.

A church in Minya was torched in 2013, gutting its interior. </s> More than 20 people were killed Friday when gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians to a monastery in Egypt. There have been a number of recent attacks claimed by ISIS on Coptic Christians in the country.

Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson gets the latest from NPR’s Jane Arraf (@janearraf) in Cairo. </s> Gunmen Attack Coptic Christians in Egypt | At least 28 Dead

Gunmen attacked a group of Coptic Christians as they were driving to a monastery south of Cairo on Friday, killing at least 28 and wounding dozens including children, the governor of Egypt’s Minya province, Essam al-Bedaiwy, said. The group was traveling in two buses and a small truck in Minya province, which is home to […]

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Also, Like us on facebook </s> Gunmen attacked a bus carrying Coptic Christians in central Egypt on Friday, killing at least seven in the latest attack on a religious minority repeatedly targeted by jihadists.

The attackers opened fire on the bus in Minya, the province's bishop told AFP.

The gunmen "killed seven people and wounded 14, all of whom are in the Sheikh Fadel hospital in Beni Mazar" around 200 kilometres (120 miles) south of Cairo, said Bishop Makarios of Minya.

A security official confirmed the attack, adding that there were "dead and wounded".

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting.

Copts, a Christian minority that make up 10 percent of Egypt's 96 million people, have in recent years been repeatedly targeted by the Islamic State jihadist group.

IS killed more than 40 people in twin church bombings in April 2017 and a month later shot dead 28 Christians in Minya province as they headed to a monastery on a bus.

Egypt's government imposed a countrywide three-month state of emergency after the April 2017 church bombings.

In December 2017 an IS gunman killed nine people in an attack on a church in a south Cairo suburb.

A year earlier, an IS suicide bomber killed almost 30 worshippers at a church in Cairo located in the Saint Mark's Cathedral complex, the seat of the Coptic papacy.

The Egyptian army launched a major offensive in February 2018 against IS in the Sinai Peninsula, where the group has waged a deadly insurgency since the fall of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

Alongside attacks against Copts, the jihadists have killed hundreds of soldiers and policemen in Egypt in recent years and were allegedly behind a November 2017 attack against a mosque in north Sinai that killed more than 300 people.

The military offensive -- Dubbed "Sinai 2018" -- has killed more than 450 jihadists, according to an army estimate, while around 30 Egyptian soldiers have been killed during this year's operation.

Egyptian authorities have also convicted jihadists for their role in attacks against Copts.

Last month an Egyptian military court sentenced 17 people to death over the suicide attacks against churches in 2016 and 2017.

Copts have long complained of discrimination in Egypt and IS is not the only group to have launched sectarian attacks against the community.

In December 2017, hundreds of Muslims attacked a church south of Cairo that had been operating without a permit for more than a dozen years. </s> Coptic Christians chant slogans during a protest following an attack on a bus carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery, in Minya, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 2, 2018. Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church and the Interior Ministry say Islamic militants have ambushed three buses carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery south of the Egyptian capital of Cairo, killing at least seven and wounding a dozen more. (AP Photo/Mohammed Hakim) (Mohammed Hakim) </s> At Least 28 Dead, Many Wounded, After Attack On Christians In Egypt

There was another deadly attack on Christians in Egypt Friday as gunmen opened fire on two buses taking worshippers to mass. At least 28 people were killed in the attack. </s> Coptic Christians in the Egyptian town of Minya prepared to bury their dead on Saturday, a day after militants ambushed three buses carrying Christian pilgrims on their way to a remote desert monastery, killing seven and wounding 19.

A priest and members of a Christian congregation prayed and chanted over a row of white coffins ahead of a funeral service for the dead.

All but one of those killed were members of the same family, according to a list of the victims' names released by the church, which said a boy and a girl, ages 15 and 12 respectively, were among the dead.

Mourners gather for the funeral of Coptic Christians who were killed in an attack, at the Prince Tadros Church in Minya

The Islamic State militant claimed responsibility for the attack south of Cairo in a statement.

It said the attack was revenge for the imprisonment by Egyptian authorities of "our chaste sisters" without elaborating.

The Islamic State militant group claimed that 13 Christians killed and another 18 wounded, but it was not immediately possible to independently verify the claim or reconcile the discrepancy in the number of dead and wounded given by the group and the church.

El-Sissi 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 offered his condolences when he spoke by telephone with Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt's Orthodox Christians.

In a somber message of his own, Tawadros said in a video clip released by the church that the latest attack would only make the Christians stronger.

"I think that this is a terrorist act which is targeting Egypt through playing the card of the Copts," said Begemy Nassem Nasr, priest of the church of St. Mary in Minya. "We know that ... President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi is hosting the youth forum and they meant to embarrass him."

Friday's attack is the second to target pilgrims travelling to the St. Samuel the Confessor monastery in as many years

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, Alexandria, and Tanta in the Nile Delta north of the capital.

Those incidents left at least 100 people dead and led to tighter security around Christian places of worship and Church-linked facilities.

The Interior Ministry said Friday's attackers used secondary dirt roads to reach the buses carrying the pilgrims, who were near the monastery at the time of the attack.

Only pilgrims have been allowed on the main road leading to the monastery since last year's attack.

The Interior Ministry said that only one bus was attacked, but the latest statement by the church said three buses were targeted and put the death toll at 7 and the wounded at 19, including two in critical condition.

It said police were pursuing the attackers, who fled the scene.
Gunmen open fire on buses carrying Coptic Christians in Minya Governorate, Egypt, killing at least 28 people and injuring dozens more.