Nine Christians were gunned down in an Islamic State (IS) attack on a church in Helwan, south of Cairo on 29 December. The attackers were prevented by policemen from getting inside the church, where a service was taking place.
One of the nine Christians murdered was a Nermin Sadik, who was walking her two daughters (aged 11 and 7) to Sunday School at the church. When she encountered one of the attackers, the 32-year-old nurse was shot dead, but managed to shield her daughters from the gunfire.
Police captured one attacker while the second, who was wearing a suicide vest, was killed in a shootout in which one policeman also died. A statement on IS media later claimed responsibility for the attack, stating one of its men had been “martyred.”
The attack in Cairo took place a fortnight after IS reiterated previous calls for the targeting of Egyptian Christians, who endured multiple, organised terror attacks in 2017, including the Palm Sunday suicide bombings in which nearly 50 people died.
From Global Christian News
