Coptic Christians Killed in Egypt

With Internet access now restored, the Assyrian news service has been able to report that an attack on Christians took place in Egypt at about 3 p.m. on Sunday, January 30, in the village of Sharona near Maghagha, which is in Minya Province. Two Coptic families were attacked in their homes and eleven people, including children, were killed. Four others survived, despite having been shot.

The report states that the families knew their attackers, Islamist militants divided into two groups who accessed the Coptic homes through the roofs of their neighbors’ houses. The survivors say the masked attackers of the first home were led by Ibrahim Hamdy Ibrahim. They killed Joseph Waheeb Massoud, his wife Samah, their 15-year-old daughter Christine, and their eight-year-old son Fady Youssef.

The other masked group was led by Yasser Essam Khaled. They killed Saleeb Ayad Mayez, his wife Zakia, their four-year-old son Joseph and three-year-old daughter Justina, his 23-year-old sister Amgad, their mother Zakia, and Saniora Fahim.

Though there has been violence and looting enough throughout Egypt in recent days, these attacks do not appear to have been simple robberies.  All indications are that these were deliberate attacks on Christians.