NAG HAMMADI, Egypt — In spite of threats of violence from Muslims in an area of Egypt wracked by sectarian violence, police declined to increase security for a Coptic Christmas Eve service Jan. 6, and six Christians were shot to death after leaving the church.
Three men suspected to be Muslims, including one with a criminal record and sought by police, were in a moving car from which automatic gunfire hit Coptic Christians who had attended services at St. John’s Church in Nag Hammadi, 282 miles south of Cairo.
A Muslim security guard was also killed, and nine other Coptic Christians were wounded, with three of them in critical condition, according to news reports.
Copts, along with many Orthodox communities, celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7.
The primary Muslim suspected of firing the automatic rifle at the Copts, witnesses reportedly told police, is local resident Mohammed Ahmed Hussein.
Local clergy said Hussein had not been arrested for previous crimes because he receives protection from officials in the ruling National Democratic Party.
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