Egypt: Man Wielding 'Sharp Tool,' Quran Attacks Christians at Prayer Service

Christian worshipers in Cairo, Egypt, were left injured after a man wielding a "sharp tool" and a Quran attacked them during a prayer service as he shouted "Allah is great."

International Christian Concern reports that on Nov. 11, a 22-year-old man entered the Church of St. George through a room intended for baking bread for the Lord's Supper during a prayer service. The intruder hit the baker on the head with an iron rod while shouting, "Allah is great." When another Christian attempted to rescue the baker, he was also injured.

Police arrived at the scene and arrested the man, claiming he carried out the violent attack because of mental health problems and drug use. However, local believers dispute such an explanation, calling it a thinly veiled attempt to hide the Islamic extremism prevalent across Egypt.

"The media uses words which don't reveal the truth," one local believer told ICC. "Now we have discovered that that this was a young man, not an old one. Also, he was holding a Quran and sharp tool [while] injuring some people on their heads. The media's role is to reveal the reality and not to hide information to make the Coptic Christians] calm down."

Another local Christian, Majeed, added, "It's too awful. I can't imagine that we should adapt to these incidents. Lies and lies and lies. ... I'm sure that this criminal will not be punished."

"Mentally ill, what?! How the media manipulates us!" exclaimed Hani, another local Christian.

Claire Evans, ICC's regional manager, praised police for "responding quickly" to the incident at St. George's Church, but urged the international community not to "forget the context of the attack."

"It is not unusual for the Egyptian authorities to claim that something other than Islamic extremism drives the less publicized incidents of persecution," she said. "The situation surrounding Egypt's Christians will not improve unless there is honesty in confronting why these kinds of incidents happen. We must continue to keep Egypt's Christians in our prayers."

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