Egypt: Armed Men Attack A Bus Carrying Christians

Many Copts were killed in a shooting attack on a bus carrying Christians in Minieh province 350 km south of Cairo. Several assailants fired the automatic weapon on the bus. This attack comes a month and a half after attacks on two Coptic churches

After the attacks on churches in Cairo, the Delta, and Alexandria, the Minieh bombing is a kind of return to the roots. Since the 1980s, the Copts have regularly been targeted by Islamists in this province, where there is the highest concentration of Christians in Egypt. Nearly a third of the population is Christian.

The Copts of the province have been sporadically targets of attacks but more regularly of aggressions and multiple cases of abuse. Like destroyed churches, burnt houses, and properties, or forced evictions from their villages.

Social peace at the expense of justice

Last year, we even saw an old Coptic woman undressed by a fanatic crowd. A crime that had shocked Egypt. But a crime that, like many others, remained unpunished. Local authorities prefer to maintain social peace at the expense of justice in this province where the Salafists are very powerful.

The Copts of Egypt represent the largest Christian community in the Middle East and one of the oldest. Nearly 10 percent of the 92 million Egyptians would belong to the Coptic community in a country where Sunni Muslims nevertheless represent a vast majority.