A security guard at Cairo’s Saint Fatima church named Ashraf Al-Garf was injured in a knife attack at dawn on Wednesday.
The attacker was killed by Al-Garf’s fellow security guards.
Ministry of Interior said in an official statement that the attacker is reported to be a 19-year-old man from the Al-Zeitoun neighbourhood, Ammar Ahmed Al-Etriby. The motive behind the attack remains unclear.
Security forces in Saint Fatima Square are securing the area and examining footage from security cameras near the church.
Since the infamous attack on Al-Qeddesin church in Alexandria on New Year’s Eve in 2011, security around churches has increased across the country.
Since 2011, the Saint Fatima church has been surrounded by a fence and no parking is permitted within the church’s vicinity.
The Saint Fatima church was also attacked in 2013 by Muslim Brotherhood supporters following the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi. A group of protestors marked the walls of the church with the slogan “Islamic Egypt”. The church then built another fence around its walls to prevent further attacks.
