Minya police succeeded in bringing under control a violent attack against the Copts in the village of al-Uzeib in Samalout, Minya, some 250km south of Cairo, that took place on 18 December 2023.
Extremist Muslim villagers attacked the homes of Coptic families once the Copts started construction work to lay the foundation for a church in the village, despite the fact that the church was being built with official licence.
Stones were thrown at Coptic homes, and three Coptic-owned houses were torched. But there were no casualties.
The police was informed and arrived directly and surrounded the village. They succeeded in containing the situation, and arrested a number of the instigators of the violence.
A Coptic villager eyewitness spoke to Watani on condition of anonymity. He said that the village included no church, and that for many years its some 3000-strong Coptic population had nowhere to worship; they would travel to other villages to do that. With the 2016 Law for Building Churches in force, al-Uzeib Copts applied for licence to build a church on a land 500sq.m wide, and obtained the licence a month ago.
“Since that day,” the eyewitness said, “the Muslim villagers have been harassing us. The house of Abdullah Bushra was set on fire; he filed a report (Administrative No. 5875 of 2023, Samalut) with the police, and matters relatively calmed down.
“Two days ago, we began digging the foundation. A day later, some extremist Muslims began harassing us. They torched the home of the Copt Maher Kamel Naseem and burned his livestock. The police arrived, and contained the matters.
“Today, we were surprised that, despite police presence, dozens of Muslim extremists came out shouting ‘Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest)’ and threatening that they rejected any church in the village so would ‘bring the church back to the ground’.
“They threw stones at the homes of Copts, and set fire to some homes located on the outskirts of the village. The police forces present in the village called for additional security reinforcements to control the situation, amid back and forth with the demonstrators. A number of them were arrested, among them the perpetrators of the violence. The situation was brought under control.
“Today’s violence resulted in the burning of the house of Hanna Gaballah, and the torching of a wooden shed annexed to a house under construction owned by Gaber Saeed Fam. Saadallah Tawadros’ house was hurled with Molotov cocktails, resulting in minor losses.”
The eyewitness said the Copts are living in a state of panic and all are keeping to their homes in fear.
Watani International
19 December 2023