[ad_1]
CAIRO – Egypt has announced Sunday that it has killed 19 militants linked to an ambush that claimed the lives of seven Christian pilgrims, while President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi struggled to cope with rising Christian anger against him. government.
The Interior Ministry said the Egyptian forces had killed activists during a chase across a mountainous desert region to the west of the ancient monastery, where men armed opened fire Friday on three buses filled with pilgrims.
Six of the seven pilgrims killed in the attack came from the same extended family, Orthodox Coptic officials said.
The Sunday announcement was accompanied by graphic photographs of bloody bodies lying in the sand. But he gave little details about the circumstances of the raid, including his schedule or the fact that the government had suffered losses or not.
Egypt regularly publishes such raids, but questions remain as to why the security forces are unable to stop militant attacks. The indignation provoked by Friday's attack – the deadliest in almost a year against Christians – was fueled by the fact that militants carried out a similar ambush at about the same place in May 2017, killing 28 people.
At a funeral in Minya on Saturday, hundreds of mourners mocked loudly and waved their fingers after a Coptic bishop publicly thanked the security forces and government officials.
During the attack on Friday, gunmen opened fire on three buses shortly after leaving the St. Samuel Monastery in the desert south of Cairo, killing the seven people in a bus and injuring 19 other total, according to officials of the Coptic Church.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility, claiming on its Amaq press service that the attack had been carried out in retaliation for the arrest of "our chaste sisters". She did not specify.
Egypt's intelligence service described the attack as a "desperate attempt", revealing the group's weakness. But he also renewed doubts about the effectiveness of the Egyptian strategy against the powerful local affiliate at the Islamic State, which has expanded beyond its Sinai stronghold in recent years to to attack Christians in churches, in big cities and outside monasteries.
"The reality is that the Islamic State has carried out an attack on the same road, next to the same monastery, at one year intervals," said Timothy E. Kaldas, an analyst at the US Embassy. Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. "This really calls into question the quality of the government's efforts to enhance security, especially in Minya, where the Christian minority has been targeted relentlessly."
In Rome, Pope Francis denounced violence. "I pray for the victims, the pilgrims killed just because they are Christians," he told the faithful on St. Peter's Square on Sunday.
The attack coincided with the World Youth Forum, a highly publicized event that Sisi organizes each year in the seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in the Red Sea, and it is an important part of his efforts to soften the image of his authoritarian regime.
On Sunday morning, Sisi stressed that Egyptians should be free to worship freely and reiterated their commitment to fighting discrimination.
Critics point out that religious freedom remains in an uncertain state under Sisi. The construction of Christian churches is subject to heavy governmental restrictions. Muslim mobs attacked Christians in Minya governorate, Friday's attack site, home to many of Egypt's 10 million Christians. The authorities arrested atheists and prevented others from leaving the country.
The Coptic Orthodox leadership, as well as many Christians, lent their support to Mr Sisi after he came to power during a military takeover in 2013, hoping to be protected against the violent attacks that took place during the brief period of the Muslim Brotherhood regime.
But the sustained pace of IS attacks on Christian targets, including suicide attacks on cathedrals in Cairo and Alexandria in 2016 and 2017, eroded this support.
"I have seen many Christians from different classes become disillusioned with the government and with Sisi," said analyst Kaldas. "Life has become more difficult and security has not been assured."
Christians feel threatened from all sides. After Friday's attack, an article published on a Muslim Brotherhood website said Sisi had orchestrated the events to gain public sympathy – an unfounded assertion regularly made by supporters of the Brotherhood after attacks on Christians.
