Protest Marks Funeral for Christian Copts Killed by ISIS in Egypt
Relatives grieved for the victims of a bus attack on Egypt's Coptic Christians by masked militants last Friday. Thousands of mourners gathered the next day for a funeral service at Abu Garnous Cathedral in Upper Egypt's Minya province to weep and pray for the 29 lives lost.
The funeral turned into a protest march where the participants wailed in anger at government's failure to protect them and shouted slogans as they carried the caskets to the cemetery. "With blood and soul, we will defend you, oh cross!" they yelled. "There is no god but God and the Messiah is God!" the crowd went on to say.
The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack. "A security team of caliphate soldiers set up an ambush for dozens of Christians as they headed to the church of St. Samuel," the militant group said through its media arm Amaq. The incident happened on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan.
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A bus and a car were carrying families on their way to volunteer at St. Samuel the Confessor monastery when they were assaulted by armed men. The gunmen boarded the vehicles, killed the men, and shot women and kids at the legs. Two children, ages three and four, were killed.
As the militants fled, one of their vehicles blew its tire, prompting them to open fire at another passing truck carrying Christian Copts on their way to work. The passengers died and the jihadis hijacked the truck. The incident happened on the desert highway of Dayr Jarnous village in Minya Governorate where about 40 percent of the population is Christian.
"It is difficult to target Copts in churches because they have security and cameras. And in their homes, they live next to Muslims," Bishop Anba Makarios of Minya said. "So the new method is a way to get them alone: They pick a desert road in the heart of the mountain with no checkpoints or rest stops or anything on it so they can target only Copts," he added.
