Five more arrested over Egypt’s Minya sectarian attacks on Christians

Five more people were arrested on Thursday in relation to a sectarian mob attack on the homes of Christians in Minya governorate last week, according to an interior ministry statement.

Six people had previously been arrested in connection with the attack last Friday, which the church said involved the public stripping of  Christian woman.

“A group of 300 people carrying various types of weapons went at 8pm on 20 May to attack seven houses owned by Christians, burgling some of them and torching others,” a statement by the Coptic Orthodox Church read. The events were precipitated by rumours of a love affair between a Christian man and a Muslim woman; the mob stripped naked the man’s mother, an elderly woman, according to the statement.

Security forces are intensifying their efforts to capture other perpetrators, the interior ministry’s statement added.

Also on Thursday, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called for the arrest of those involved in the mob attack and urged the government to take “necessary measures to preserve public order, protect [citizens] and property within the rule of law.”

He also issued directives to the provincial governor to restore all damaged buildings in coordination with the armed forces within one month and at the government’s expense.

Source: Ahram Online