Coptic teacher murdered in North Sinai

CAIRO – 02-20-2017: A Coptic Christian teacher was gunned down last Thursday in northern Sinai, marking the second murder of a Copt in that region in under a week and the third since January, the Associated Press reported. The murder took place in the North Sinai capital, Arish, when two gunmen on a motorbike shot 50-year-old Gamal Tawfik in the head on his way to school.

At the time of writing no group had claimed responsibility for the attack; however, a security official told the Associated Press that the attack was most likely carried out by the Islamic State-affiliated group Province of Sinai.

The Islamic State on Sunday released a video saying Copts in Egypt are no longer a ‘dhimmi’ (protected people under Islamic law) and calling for their mass murder.

Copts in Egypt have been frequent targets of attacks in recent years. In December 2016 a suicide bomber killed 29 people when he detonated his explosives in the women’s section of the St. Peter and St. Paul’s Church in Cairo, Daily News Egypt reported. Most of the killed and wounded were women and children.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the church bombing.

The Christian persecution watchdog World Watch Monitor recorded five murders of Copts in just under two weeks in January.

In late January, a Coptic alcohol merchant in Alexandria was murdered. The incident was caught on security footage and the murderer confessed, adding that he would murder all alcohol merchants if he could, Daily News Egypt reported.

On Feb. 12, a Coptic vet in North Sinai was also gunned down, the Christian Post reported.