Terrorists kill seven, wound nine Coptics Christians in Minya attack: Terrorists opened fire on buses carrying Coptic Christians making their way to the monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor in Minya on Friday, killing seven on board one bus, according to the Coptic Orthodox Church. The church said that two other buses were also targeted, resulting in the injury of at least 19, but Interior Ministry sources maintained that the attack was contained to one bus and that only seven were injured. Six of the seven victims were members of the Shehata family, including 15-year-old Beshoy Shehata and his younger relative Maria Shehata. The shooting took place close to the area where similar attacks claimed 29 lives in May 2017.

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi offered his condolences and vowed in a tweet on Friday to step up Egypt’s fight against terrorism. Al Azhar also issued a statement condemning the attacks.

Daesh claimed responsibility through their Amaq propaganda outlet, according to the Guardian. The group said the attacks were revenge for Egypt’s imprisonment of “our chaste sisters,” apparently referring to the detention of former Ikhwan deputy leader Khairat El Shater’s daughter, Aida, and six other women one day earlier. If their claims are verified, this would mean the return of the group targeting Christians after a near-year-long stint of major attacks on Copts, says the New York Times.

The story gained significant traction in the foreign press over the weekend, with the BBC citing past accusations by Copts that Egyptian authorities are making “only token gestures to protect them,” and following up a day later to document the victims’ funeral service. The incident is “the most serious attack on a minority in more than a year,” Reuters noted, while the Associated Press said the attack is “likely to cast a dark shadow on one of el-Sissi’s showpieces — the World Youth Forum.” The National called Friday’s attack an “abomination” and Singapore’s Straits Times noted how radical extremism continues to be a problem despite authorities’ obvious efforts against terrorism. The Washington Post, The Independent, France 24, and several others also followed the story.