Gunmen attacked buses that were taking Egyptian Christians to a monastery Friday, killing at least 28 people and wounding about the same number, according to local reports citing Egypt's government.The attack was carried out by men riding in three trucks, Egypt's interior ministry says, according to the official Middle East News Agency.The Christians had been traveling to the ancient St. Samuel monastery in Minya, a province some 160 miles south of Cairo along the Nile River. Government officials say they were traveling in two buses and a truck, NPR's Jane Arraf reports."Church officials say children and elderly people are among" the victims, Jane adds."Minya province has the largest percentage of Christians in Egypt," Jane says. "Religious tension in some communities in Minya has increased in recent years and in many villages, they are prevented from building churches."Coptic Christians were targeted by two deadly attacks in northern Egypt last month, in suicide bombings that killed at least 44 people. Those attacks were claimed by ISIS.After Friday's attack, President Fattah al-Sisi ordered a security meeting, according to the Middle East News Agency, which also says the attack was condemned by Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of Egypt's Al Azhar mosque.Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam also denounced the attack, saying, "Those traitors breached all the religious principles and humanitarian values," according to the state-owned Middle East News Agency. Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
Attack On Coptic Christians Kills At Least 28 In Egypt
