The Coptic community of Egypt, the main Christian minority within the Arab world, has been the target of another indiscriminate attack. Six Coptic worshippers and a Muslim policeman died after the Orthodox Christmas Eve mass on Wednesday. According to several news agencies, three men with submachine guns opened fire against the crowd in the centre of the southern Egypt town of Nag Hammadi. Seven people died and other ten were wounded as a result.

Egyptian official sources declared the attack could be a response in revenge of the rape of a Muslim girl by a Christian man two months ago in the same town. The bishop of the church where the killing occurred said he had received several threats a few days before the celebration of the Orthodox Christmas on January 7. According to him, one of the threats was a mobile message saying "it is your turn".

Around 5,000 people gathered in the funerals, and protests and clashes against the police have been reported throughout the day. The police broke up the demonstrations with tear gas. No arrests have been reported up to now even though there are suspects.

A minority of several million people
The Coptic community, the most numerous Christian cult in the Arab world, is made up of 5 to 7 million people in Egypt, a country of 79 million people. Most of Copts live in the northern areas of Egypt, and are still discriminated against in public and religious life. There are yearly records of violent attacks against Copts or Coptic institutions. Tension is particularly evident in the region of Nag Hammadi, where incidents between Christians and Muslims took place in November after the rape.

Photo: Coptic monastery of Saint Simeon in Egypt (Flickr/Arch2452).

Further information:

• AFP: Six Egyptian Copts killed in Christmas Eve attack
• Al-Jazeera: Clashes after Egypt Copt killings