A Muslim mob attacked the families of two Coptic Christian priests in southern Egypt, killing one man and wounding three others, officials said Monday.
Fam Khalaf, 27, was stabbed to death as the armed mob descended on the Christian families in the town of Tahna al-Gabal late Sunday. The father of one of the priests was among those wounded.
Officials said the fighting stemmed from a personal feud. According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, “local media reports suggest the fighting resulted from an argument between Muslim and Christian children over priority to pass through the street.” Police said four people were arrested over the incident.
The assault drew protests from local Christians against the recent surge in violence against their community. Coptic Christians make up ten percent of Egypt’s population, which is primarily comprised of Sunni Muslims. Members of the Coptic Church, which dates its presence in Egypt to around 50 CE, are occasionally targeted for sectarian attacks and have long complained of discrimination.
On Saturday, a group of Muslims targeted and torched Christian houses in the town of Abu-Yacoub, following rumors that a Christian sought to convert a kindergarten into a church. Fourteen people were arrested in connection to the violence. Another group attacked and set Christian houses ablaze in the town of Kom al-Lufi after a similar rumor circulated last week.
In May, a Muslim mob stripped and paraded a 70-year-old Christian woman in the streets after hearing a rumor that her son had a relationship with a Muslim woman. (Muslim men can marry Christian women in Egypt, but Christian men are not permitted to marry Muslim women.) One witness of the attack, Attiyah Ayad, told the Associated Press that the mob — armed with firearms, knives, and sticks — chanted “we must drive the infidels out” as they looted and torched Christian homes.
“We have people getting killed and there is no one answering for it, money stolen, houses looted, girls kidnapped … and we bear it all and let it pass, but now there is escalation,” Bishop Makarios, the top Coptic church official in the Minya province, told Reuters at the time.
The incident sparked a backlash and compelled Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to promise to bring the perpetrators to justice and restore the damaged property at no cost to the victims.
The Coptic Christian community supported the 2013 ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. After Morsi was removed from power by the Egyptian military, Islamists accused Christians of conspiring against him. Attacks on Christian homes, businesses, churches, schools, orphanages, and monasteries subsequently spiked.
The watchdog group Open Doors warns that Coptic Christians face a “severe” level of persecution from Islamic extremists in Egypt, just one rank better than Qatar and two worse than the Palestinian territories in worldwide ratings.
[Photo: Moshe Shai / FLASH90 ]