By Essam Fadl
CAIRO: Hundreds of Copts ended their strike in front of the Minya Security Headquarters after promises to find two Coptic girls who went missing last Sunday.
Clashes broke out between protesters and police forces Wednesday evening, leaving six Copts and three policemen injured, when police attempted to forcibly open one of the streets blocked by demonstrators.
Violent clashes between police forces wielding batons and protesters throwing stones resulted in superficial injuries, according to medical sources. However, the injured were treated on site and did not need to be transferred to hospital.
Hundreds of Copts started protesting Tuesday after the disappearance of two Coptic girls: Christine Ezzat Fathy, 17, and her cousin Nancy Magdy Fathy, 14.
The girls’ relatives filed a compliant at the Minya Police Station saying that the two never came home after leaving to attend the Sunday sermon at Virgin Mary Church in their village Nazlet Ebaid.
Their family accused two young Muslim men from a nearby village called Ezbet Rashed of kidnapping them.
Their family agreed to end the protests after meeting with head of Minya Security Forces General Mamdouh Maqled, who promised to launch a thorough search for the two teenagers.
“The families of the two girls decided to end the sit-in after these promises, and as protesters taking part in the strike we give them the right to decide,” activist and member of the Coptic Maspero Youth Union, Michael Ramsis, told Daily News Egypt.
“We are compiling all the cases of disappeared Coptic girls, including the ones who were found and the ones who were not, to present to Cabinet and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF),” he added.
