Militants attack Christians in Egypt, killing at least 28

[Deleted]

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/news/egypt...102255009.html

CAIRO (AP) — Masked militants riding in three SUVs opened fire Friday on a bus packed with Coptic Christians, including children, south of the Egyptian capital, killing at least 28 people and wounding 22, the Interior Ministry said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the fourth to target Christians since December, but it bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State group. The attack came on the eve of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Islamic militants have for years been waging an insurgency mostly centered in the restive northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, although a growing number of attacks have recently also taken place on the mainland.

The assault happened while the bus was traveling on a side road in the desert leading to the remote monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor in Maghagha, in Minya governorate, about 220 kilometers (140 miles) south of Cairo.

Security officials quoted witnesses as saying they saw between eight and 10 attackers, dressed in military uniforms and wearing masks. The victims were en route from the nearby province of Beni Suef to visit the monastery.

Security and medical officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters, said the death toll stood at 28 but feared it could rise further. According to Copts United news portal, only three children survived the attack. It was not immediately known how many of the victims were children.

Arab TV stations showed images of a badly damaged bus along a roadside, many of its windows shattered and with numerous bullet holes. Footage of the bus's interior showed blood stains on the seats and shattered glass.

Ambulances are seen parked around the bus and bodies are lying on the ground, covered with black plastic sheets.

The surge in attacks targeting Christians in Egypt has added to the challenges facing President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government as it struggles to contain the insurgency while pushing ahead with an ambitious and politically sensitive reform program to revive the country's ailing economy that already has sent the cost of food and services soaring.

There was no immediate response from the government to Friday's attack, but it is likely to heighten security around churches, monasteries, schools and annual pilgrimages to remote Christian sites across the country.

On Wednesday, Egypt blocked access to nearly two dozen websites it said were sympathetic to militants or spreading their ideology.

"The growing number of these terror attacks is not at all reassuring," Fr. Rafic Greiche, the spokesman for the Egyptian Catholic church, told a local television station.

El-Sissi called for a meeting with top aides to discuss Friday's attack. Last month, he declared a three-month state of emergency following twin suicide bombings that struck two churches north of Cairo on Palm Sunday. In December, a suicide bomber targeted a Cairo church. The attacks left at least 75 dead and scores wounded and were claimed by IS, which later vowed more attacks against Christians.

Late last month, Pope Francis visited Egypt, in part to show his support for Christians in this Muslim majority Arab nation following the December and April attacks.

During the trip, Francis paid tribute to the victims of the December bombing in Cairo's St. Peter's church, located in close proximity to Cairo's St. Mark's cathedral, the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Church. He visited the church, where he joined in prayers the spiritual leader of Egypt's Orthodox Christians, Pope Tawadros II, and leaders of other Christian churches in Egypt.

Following the pope's visit, IS vowed to escalate attacks against Christians, urging Muslims to steer clear of Christian gatherings and Western embassies, saying they are targets for the group's followers.

Egypt's Copts, the Middle East's largest Christian community, have long complained of discrimination, as well as outright attacks, at the hands of the country's majority Muslim population. They account for about 10 percent of Egypt's 93 million people.

They rallied behind el-Sissi, a general-turned-president, when he in 2013 ousted his Islamist predecessor Mohammed Morsi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood group. Attacks on Christian homes, businesses and churches subsequently surged, especially in the country's south, the heartland of Egypt's Christians.

Actual persecution of a religious minority. Islamism, and other theocratic ideologies, are a disease on this world.

[Ghostpanther]

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/news/egypt...102255009.html



Actual persecution of a religious minority. Islamism, and other theocratic ideologies, are a disease on this world.

I agree. Islamism however is not the problem or even having a strong belief in any religion. The same applies if they are a majority even. But it is not related only to religion, but to any concept which tries to silence those who oppose what others think is right. As long as the group, individual are not clearly harming others in a direct illegal way ( not according to what you may feel is harm.) they should be allowed to practice and express their own convictions in peaceful ways.

[Tikaru]

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/news/egypt...102255009.html



Actual persecution of a religious minority. Islamism, and other theocratic ideologies, are a disease on this world.

Seems more like a culture thing more than religion. There's over 1.6 BILLION Muslims in the world, shouldn't there be more widespread attacks every day in every country if the problem is just religion?

[I Push Buttons]

Seems more like a culture thing more than religion. There's over 1.6 BILLION Muslims in the world, shouldn't there be more widespread attacks every day in every country if the problem is just religion?

There are 2.2 billion Christians. How often do you hear about Christian extremists killing people?

To answer your question though, there are MULTIPLE Muslim Terrorist attacks almost every single day. They just occur in Muslim countries and usually don't get much press in the West unless they are large scale.

January
February
March
April
May

[Tikaru]

There are 2.2 billion Christians. How often do you hear about Christian extremists killing people?

To answer your question though, there are MULTIPLE Muslim Terrorist attacks almost every single day. They just occur in Muslim countries and usually don't get much press in the West unless they are large scale.

Doesn't that just reinforce that it's not religion, but culture/region?

[ParanoiD84]

Once again, its almost as they dont care about their safety there. They have also burned like a hundred churches to the ground there before

Happy i visited egypt 10 years ago, would not go there today.

Same in pakistan where they also love to attack minority groups.

[Video Games]

Normally i wouldn't joke about the death of kids, but they should have just waited for farcry 5.

[Ghostpanther]

There are 2.2 billion Christians. How often do you hear about Christian extremists killing people?

To answer your question though, there are MULTIPLE Muslim Terrorist attacks almost every single day. They just occur in Muslim countries and usually don't get much press in the West unless they are large scale.

January
February
March
April
May

At the present time. But a quick check of history paints a different story.

[I Push Buttons]

Doesn't that just reinforce that it's not religion, but culture/region?

If that is the case then why do natives of various western nations, born and raised in the west among western culture, commit the same atrocities in the name of the same religion?

[Knolan]

Seems more like a culture thing more than religion. There's over 1.6 BILLION Muslims in the world, shouldn't there be more widespread attacks every day in every country if the problem is just religion?

To be fair, the vast majority of them live in countries that are very near to 100% muslins and where the state enforces laws they enjoy.

There is a famous quote by Samuel P. Huntington, "Islam has bloody borders", I admit that I don't know nearly enough about the subject and I still want to read much about it, but the impression I get from news is that this quote is true.

It always seems that Islam is a very violent religion and that whenever they don't have it their way and have the means to wage war, war emerges.

[Tikaru]

If that is the case then why do natives of various western nations, born and raised in the west among western culture, commit the same atrocities in the name of the same religion?

The numbers don't support it though.

Let's ignore that if it was religion, we would see more of the 1.6 billion Muslims world-wide killing non-Muslims.

There are roughly 3.3 million Muslims in the US. Even if just 1% of those wanted to kill anyone who wasn't Muslim, that's 33,000 people that should be on a killing spree. Where are they?

[Ghostpanther]

If that is the case then why do natives of various western nations, born and raised in the west among western culture, commit the same atrocities in the name of the same religion?

Some have. Remember the Orlando Club terrorism attack?

[ramenkoenig]

At the present time. But a quick check of history paints a different story.

Totally the same thing. Thank you for pointing out this very important point. Your genius knows no boundaries.

[I Push Buttons]

The numbers don't support it though.

Let's ignore that if it was religion, we would see more of the 1.6 billion Muslims world-wide killing non-Muslims.

There are roughly 3.3 million Muslims in the US. Even if just 1% of those wanted to kill anyone who wasn't Muslim, that's 33,000 people that should be on a killing spree. Where are they?

Where did I argue that there was any sizable portion of said religion that was extremist? I agree with the claims put forward by the "not all Muslims" apologists, extremist are absolutely a very small minority. That doesn't change the fact that they exist, they kill a lot of people, and do so in the name of that religion.

I also don't see what this has to do with my statement. I simply contested your assertion that it is cultural/regional, by pointing out western participants of said movements, who have no cultural or regional similarities at all, only religious similarities.

[Deleted]

The numbers don't support it though.

Let's ignore that if it was religion, we would see more of the 1.6 billion Muslims world-wide killing non-Muslims.

There are roughly 3.3 million Muslims in the US. Even if just 1% of those wanted to kill anyone who wasn't Muslim, that's 33,000 people that should be on a killing spree. Where are they?

Do a quick search for views of Muslims on suicide bombings and you'll be surprised that the number is way too high. While not everyone is ready to wear a fashionable suicide vest quite a few feel that they are justified in order to defend Islam. While you're not looking at 1% actively going boom you're looking at a lot more thinking that doing it is OK, thereby being a potential risk in the future.

From memory i think it was 8% of Muslims living in the UK saying that suicide attacks on civilians attack are somewhat justified. Can't remember the exact wording now.

Also, there's this if anyone is interested in a map-list-thing of attacks this year: https://storymaps.esri.com/stories/t...cks/?year=2017

[Grimbold21]

Islamism, though, is the politicizaion of Islam

[Amorac]

Interesting read perhaps
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-an...ight-white-men

Bit old and no idea how reliable the source is but the listed events are verifiable.

One could argue these aren't true Christians but the same arguments go for Muslim terrorists.

The problem are extremist. No matter what religion they claim to follow.

/edit
Other link
http://www.globalresearch.ca/non-mus...merica/5333619
http://aattp.org/here-are-8-christia...at-equal-isis/

[Knolan]

Do a quick search for views of Muslims on suicide bombings and you'll be surprised that the number is way too high. While not everyone is ready to wear a fashionable suicide vest quite a few feel that they are justified in order to defend Islam. While you're not looking at 1% actively going boom you're looking at a lot more thinking that doing it is OK, thereby being a potential risk in the future.

From memory i think it was 8% of Muslims living in the UK saying that suicide attacks on civilians attack are somewhat justified. Can't remember the exact wording now.

Also, there's this if anyone is interested in a map-list-thing of attacks this year: https://storymaps.esri.com/stories/t...cks/?year=2017

I remember seeing several pools on their opinions (mainly on UK and France) and I do find that this will be a huge problem in the future. In a quick google search I found this compilation (that I could not verify, but there are a few important news in the links):

https://www.thereligionofpeace.com/p...ion-polls.aspx

[ParanoiD84]

Interesting read perhaps
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-an...ight-white-men

Bit old and no idea how reliable the source is but the listed events are verifiable.

One could argue these aren't true Christians but the same arguments go for Muslim terrorists.

The problem are extremist. No matter what religion they claim to follow.

Boko Haram alone blows away anything Christians have done in recent years when it comes to terrorism and attacks against minoritys then we have groups like al qaida, al shabbab, isis etc etc its not even in the same league they do these attacks daily and have been doing it for years now thousands of attacks and then we are not even counting their attacks against their own people. So its a much much much larger problem then anything else.

And before you go all crazy on me sure Christians have had their fair share of terrorism to just not nearby as much as those i listed.

[Amorac]

Boko Haram alone blows away anything Christians have done in recent years when it comes to terrorism and attacks against minoritys then we have groups like al qaida, al shabbab, isis etc etc its not even in the same league they do these attacks daily and gave been doing it for years now.

What Boko Haram is doing has nothing to do with religion despite what they claim.

Still https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Christia...#/Contemporary

The "they are worse" doesn't really fly IMHO. Are the Christian Terrorist less evil cause they attack less? Have you considered that it's just less newsworthy to report on? Any idea what extremist Jews have done?

According to the FBI there are more non muslim terrorist in the US.. http://www.globalresearch.ca/non-mus...merica/5333619

Also http://aattp.org/here-are-8-christia...at-equal-isis/
http://www.newsweek.com/christian-fu...-threat-613428