Three Christian men are recovering following a violent attack in a pharmacy in Ashruba village, Minya province, Upper Egypt. It marks another episode in a surge of religious intimidation by Muslim extremists in recent months.
Four assailants armed with machetes targeted the men on 5 November. Police arrested several people in connection with the stabbings.
The attack comes amid reports of other assaults on Christians.
“In the case of the Ashruba pharmacy stabbings, we can praise God that the authorities have taken steps to uphold the rights of those targeted,” says Michael Jones*, a Cairo-based Egyptian Christian leader. “However, a culture of threat and harassment of Christians continues to thrive.”
In July this year, a family in Upper Egypt—the southern portion of Egypt—reported the sexual harassment of their 14-year-old daughter to the police. The family were attacked the next day. The mother and daughter were beaten and publicly stripped of their clothes. The family have fled for their own safety.
Cases of the assault and abduction of Christian women continue. The disappearance of 17-year-old Amal in Upper Egypt this February remains unsolved.
Burning places of worship
Since the 1970s, hundreds of churches have been attacked, or burnt, in Egypt.
In August 2022, the arson of numerous churches in just one month included the Church of Abu Seifein, a Coptic Orthodox church. Forty-one Christians were burnt alive, attracting international condemnation.
In April this year, dozens of Coptic Christian homes were set on fire in the Egyptian village of Fawakher, Minya, after rumours spread of plans to build a church with the help of non-government organisations (NGOs). Families were at home when fires were laid.
Days later, the news source Christian Solidarity Worldwide reported attacks on Christians and on a church construction site in al-Kom al-Ahmar village. It happened shortly after a church received local building permits.
In August, the Coptic Diocese of Beni Suef in northern Upper Egypt was destroyed by fire. Investigators blamed an electrical fault, but voices such as Coptic Solidarity, an international NGO, raised serious questions about the origins of the fire.
The year’s attacks underscore the fact that Coptic Christians face extreme threats to maintaining their places of worship.
The success of arsonists also highlights the limitations of Egypt’s legal protections and failures of Egyptian public servants to support Christian communities.
*Names changed for security purposes
please pray
- Pray that Egyptian Christians who follow Jesus out of Islam will be kept safe.
- Ask God to help Christians who have converted from Islam find fellowship.
- Pray for Christians’ legal rights, that they will not be discriminated against.
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