The 20-year-old Mina Mitry was kidnapped this morning by three masked men in one of the main streets in the North Sinai town of Arish. Mitry was taken at gunpoint as he stood in front of the shop owned by his father
The 20-year-old Mina Mitry was kidnapped this morning by three masked men in one of the main streets in the North Sinai town of Arish. Mitry was taken at gunpoint as he stood in front of the shop owned by his father, whom he works with, on Assiut Street in Arish. The kidnappers later contacted the father and asked for EGP150,000 in ransom.
The father reported the incident directly to the police, but is terrified for the safety of his son. Another Copt who had been kidnapped earlier this month in the town of Sheikh Zuwayed in North Sinai, the 65-year-old Magdy Lamei, was beheaded by his kidnappers and cast on a deserted road by the local cemetery three days later. And Fr Mina Aboud, 39, a Arish priest, was shot to dead by masked men as he walked on the street in town.
The North Sinai towns have been targeted by Sinai-based Jihadis with strong ties to the Hamas, Palestinian arm of the Muslim Brotherhood. They attack attack civilians, as well as police and army personnel, causing casualties on an almost daily basis. The army has been conducting operations against the Jihadis.
Many civilians, especially Copts, have left town. Fr Mikhail Antoun of Mar-Girgis’s (St George) in Arish said that the smaller churches had closed down, the Rafah church because of damage by Islamist attacks. Only the bishopric church is still open, holding Holy Mass once a week.
Watani International
28 July 2013