At least 28 are reported dead and 22 injured after unidentified gunmen opened fire on buses carrying Coptic Christians in Egypt’s Minya, announced Egypt’s Health Ministry.
According to Coptic Church officials, the buses were carrying dozens of children and other adults to a trip to a Monastery in Minya.
A statement released by Minya’s Governor confirmed 28 people have been killed. Twenty of those killed have been identified, and eight remain unidentified.
Of the victims who have been identified, two are children. The two children include four-year-old Marfy Hany Moussa and two-year-old Moreska Mina Samuel.
Eyewitnesses speaking to private Egyptian newspaper Youm7 say multiple gunmen were involved in the attack.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi convened an emergency security meeting following the attack.
In a statement released following the attack, Egypt’s Ministry of Interior said that the gunmen surrounded the bus in three SUVs on the Western Desert road. The Ministry of Interior said that police forces were immediately deployed to the scene and surrounding areas. There is currently no information available to suggest any arrests have been made.
The attack comes only a few days after the US embassy warned of an “unspecified action” by terror groups.
Coptic Christians have been the target of a recent campaign waged by ISIS.
In April of this year, two churches were attacked by suicide bombers. The total death toll from the church bombings at Tanta’s church of St George and Alexandria’s Cathedral of St Mark’s on Palm Sunday reached 47, with many more injured.
In December 2016, another attack on a chapel connected to Cairo’s St Mark’s Cathedral killed 29 people.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the three attacks.
The story is still developing.
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