St. Catherine attacks shows reach of Daesh into South Sinai
Topping coverage of Egypt in the foreign press this morning is the unveiling of the restored Ramses II colossus at the Luxor Temple on Tuesday, with most outlets picking up coverage from Reuters. In keeping with the theme of ancient discoveries, Daily Mail is running a story on scientists’ discovery of a “now-extinct carnivorous mammal from Egypt” that may have hunted our human ancestors.
The recent spate of terrorist attacks against Christians in Egypt is also getting significant attention from foreign journalists. The Associated Press, Reuters, and Arutz Sheva took note of the police tracking down and killing one of the gunmen behind Tuesday’s attack on a checkpoint in St. Catherine. Meanwhile, the Atlantic Council’s Zack Gold tells the New York Times’ Declan Walsh that the attack shows that Daesh had penetrated deeper into South Sinai than previously thought possible, which helps the terrorist organization in its “economic warfare against the state.”
Mount Sinai’s monks prayed for longer than usual yesterday as “following the church calendar, which lays down that the Wednesday after Easter is a day for commemorating the martyrs and ascetics,” according The Economist’s Erasmus blog. The lengthier prayer had nothing to do with the Tuesday night’s attacks near the monastery. Some are taking the attacks as an indication of an international war against Christians, including Jennifer Breedon, who penned an op-ed for Fox News claiming that the media is shrugging off the suffering of Christians in Egypt, Nigeria, and Pakistan “at the hands and blades and guns of ISIS and other radical Islamists.” The Christian Times is also reporting that a Muslim mob burned down three homes in Minya following a prayer service last week, injuring eight Christians. There appears to be no official statements confirming the incident.