The General Prosecution will investigate the killing of two Coptic men as they were sitting in front of a liquor store, which is own by a common friend of the victims, according to state-owned media.
According to eyewitnesses, a tuk-tuk drove near the store and masked men fired at the now-deceased men. One of the victims died at the scene, while the other died after being hospitalised. The two men were just returning from Christmas mass at a nearby Church
The motivation for the attack is not yet clear, but local media reported that the attacker shouted “die Christians!” the victims.
In November 2016, a man accused of stabbing a priest in the Al-Marg area in eastern Cairo was detained and sentenced to death.
Last Friday, nine Coptic civilians and a police officer were killed by masked assailants in two separate attack. Hours after the attack, the Amaq news agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic State militant group, said that a squad of militants affiliated with it executed the attack on the church. One of the attackers was arrested and is currently being interrogated and the prosecution renewed his detention for 15 days on Tuesday.
On 11 December 2016, at a Sunday mass, at least 27 people—mainly women and children—were killed. In 2017, another series of attacks left at least 45 people dead and over a hundred injured in two separate but subsequent bombings at St George Church in Tanta and St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria.
The attacks triggered the implementation of a three-month state of emergency by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, the formation of a new national council to combat terrorism, and the opening of debates on means to face extremist speech.
Also in 2016, a suspect named Adel Soliman confessed that he deliberately slaughtered the Coptic alcohol merchant named Youssef Lamaei while sitting in front of his store in Sidi Beshr in Alexandria.
