Interior Min. honors security guards of Helwan church

CAIRO – 29 December 2017: Minister of Interior Magdy Abdel Ghaffar on Friday honored the director of Cairo Security, the director general of the Cairo Investigations Authority, the director of the Helwan Police Department and four policemen for their efforts in confronting the terrorist attack that targeted the Great Martyr Mina Church in Helwan.

The minister extended his sincere condolences to the families of martyrs and wished for the speedy recovery of those injured in the terrorist attack. He also praised the heroic spirit of the Egyptian police personnel in defending places of worship during the celebration of Christmas.

Concerning the security measures of churches, Ghaffar ordered security officers to be unrelenting in dealing with any potential attempts to break the law, and to install extra electronic entry gates in the vicinity of churches. He further ordered the creation of a 180-meter exclusion zone around churches.

Two armed men attacked the Great Martyr Mina Church in Helwan early Friday, targeting dozens of Christian worshippers who were attending a religious service, according to a statement by the Ministry of Interior.

According to the statement, the first attack on Friday took place at a household appliances shop. Then the attackers headed to the church, where they attempted to trespass the church's perimeter security, killing six civilians and one security personnel deployed at the church.

The security forces have dealt with one of the attackers and managed to arrest him after he was injured, the ministry said.