One police officer was killed and four policemen injured when gunmen attacked security forces stationed at a checkpoint on the road leading to St Catherine’s Monastery on the foothill of Mount St Catherine’s. An Interior Ministry statement issued on Tuesday evening said that masked gunmen shot at the checkpoint located some 800 metres from the monastery. The police shot back at the gunmen who fled; one of them left his automatic weapons behind because he had to help his wounded friends flee.
Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack. Even though the monastery was not touched, the proximity of the attack to the monastery was taken by many to mean it was the most recent in a string of attacks against Christians in Egypt. Sunday 9 April, which coincided with Palm Sunday, witnessed two suicide attacks against churches in Egypt; 46 lost their lives and scores were injured.
Watani contacted St Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, which is affiliated to the Greek Orthodox Church. Father Gregorios said that the monks and monastery were all safe and sound; they had heard the gunshots but were not aware where they came from or what they indicated.
Watani International
19 April 2017