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Sunday, 16 July 2017

Attacker stabs church security guard after churches suspend activities over security concerns

A man also attacked a security guard at a church in Alexandria yesterday after the guard asked to inspect the contents of a backpack he was carrying into the church, AFP reports. The assailant was identified as 24-year-old Abdallah Adel Hassan via security camera footage at the church, according to Al Mal (runtime 0:45). Hassan is currently being questioned by police.

The attack came two days after Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox and Catholic churches reportedly received instructions to halt all events outside churches for the remainder of July and August due to security concerns, the Associated Press reports. The Catholic Church “complied with the interior minister’s decision to cancel church trips and camps until further notice,” a church spokesman told Reuters. A source from the church also tells the newswire that security has been beefed up at the church gates throughout last week. These measures “point to the vulnerability of Egypt’s Christians at a time when President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s government is struggling to crush an insurgency led by the extremist Islamic State,” which has vowed to target Christians in Egypt, the AP says.

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