The Minya region in Upper Egypt has been the scene of two recent kidnappings of Copts
The 14-year-old Mariam S. Sh. Has been kidnapped at gunpoint in broad daylight by unknown attackers. She was riding on a local passenger truck from Manahra to Abu-Qurqas with her family when, according to the driver Atta Y. who reported the matter to the police, a van and taxi blocked their way. Gunmen rushed at the truck, had a good look at the passengers then forced Mariam down amid screams form her mother who was riding next to her. The tried to catch her sister but the other passengers protected her from the attackers who then forced Mariam into the taxi and fled.
In the town of Deir Muwwas, the medical doctor Nady Yassa Tanius, 57, who is manager of a hospital in Deir Muwwas but is resident in Mallawi, was also kidnapped at gunpoint by unknown men, as he drove home from the hospital in the evening of Saturday 19 October. His kidnappers contacted his family and demanded EGP1 million in ransom.
The Minya police are working on the two cases.
Watani International
20 October 2013