In a statement issued yesterday, 29 December 2018, the Coptic Orthodox Church headed by Pope Tawadros II, strongly condemned the terrorist roadside bomb blast which had the evening before targeted a tourist bus travelling through Maryutiya to the Giza pyramids. Three Vietnamese tourists and the Egyptian tour guide lost their lives, 11 other tourists from Vietnam and the Egyptian bus driver were injured. The bus had been carrying 14 tourists to the Sound and Light show at the Pyramids. No one claimed responsibility for the attack which, according to an Interior Ministry statement, was executed through a primitively-made bomb.
Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli and Health Minister Hala Zayed have visited the injured in hospital. Tourism Minister Rania al-Mashat met the Vietnamese ambassador in Cairo and offered him condolences.
On Saturday 29 December, Egypt’s Interior Ministry announced that Egyptian security forces killed 40 suspected militants in three simultaneous incidents in the North Sinai and Giza areas. Thirty were killed at a hideout in Giza where, according to the Interior Ministry, terrorist elements were planning attacks on state institutions and the tourism industry; and 10 suspected militants were killed in North Sinai where an Islamic State-led insurgency barricades itself.
The terror attack was strongly condemned by all the Churches in Egypt.
In its statement, the Coptic Church offered heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims, and prayed for the speedy recovery of all the injured.
The Church said it stood in solidarity with the Egyptian State in its fierce battle against terrorism, and stressed that it prays to the Lord “to save our beloved Egypt from all evil. We also pray for the perpetrators of terror crimes so that God may help them regain their consciences and humanitarian values.”
Pope Francis sent a message to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressing his deep grief and prayers, and his condemnation of the brutal attack. He asked everyone to collaborate to put an end to violence and bring about peace, praying for the Lord to bless Egypt.
Watani International
30 December 2018