Egypt's Christians bury victims of latest militant attack

Thousands of Christian mourners in Egypt on Saturday witnessed the burial of six members of the same family who were killed while returning from a baptism at a Coptic monastery in Egypt’s Minya province.

Crowds spilled over from the pews screaming, sobbing and praying over six white coffins and refusing an offer of condolences from security officials.

Priest of Mar Girgis, Rad Noser Mitri said they play no role in terrorism or hate but only a role in serving their church and country like any other people all around the world.

“We would like to tell them (the attackers) that we still love them despite what happened. We have a question though, Why are you doing this to us? We do not commit malice towards anyone. We serve our church and nation in complete honesty,” he added.

Gunmen opened fire on Friday (November 2) on two buses near the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor in Minya, 260 km (160 miles) up the River Nile from Cairo, killing seven people and wounding another 18, including children.

The attack was claimed by Islamic State which, along with affiliated groups, has said it was responsible for several on Egypt’s Christian minority, including one that killed 28 people in almost the same spot in May 2017.

Although Egypt’s army and police launched a crackdown on the militant groups in February, some of the Christian mourners blamed security lapses for repeated attacks against them.