Christians in the Upper Egypt village of Al-Nagameesh have
been left devastated after a mob, armed with petrol bombs, went on the rampage,
destroying homes and businesses.
The
attack last Friday was apparently triggered by suspicions that local Christians
had turned a community centre into a church. That centre was also destroyed by
fire.
Pray
for our brothers and sisters in Sohag
governorate, as they start to rebuild their lives.
The
community centre was a focal point for Al-Nagameesh’s Christian minority who
gathered there for funerals, weddings and sometimes prayer. There is no church
in the village.
Three
days before the attack, a local pastor held a ceremony at the centre to mark the
first anniversary of his father’s death. The next day, extremists handed out
leaflets claiming Christians had turned the centre into a church and urging
Muslims to attack it. They cut off the village water supply and blocked
firefighters’ routes in advance, so that fires could not be
controlled.
Tensions
have been made worse by new legislation, passed in August, which has imposed
further restrictions on the building of churches in Egypt.
- Pray that God will provide for all those whose homes and livelihoods have been destroyed or damaged in this attack.
- Pray that local officials will take firm action to clamp down on extremism and ensure such attacks do not go unpunished.
- Continue to pray that the Government will uphold religious minorities’ rights in practice and throughout the whole of Egypt.
(Sources:
Human Rights Watch, Morning Star
News)
