Coptic Christians in Fear as Brutal Murders Leave 4 Dead in 10 Days

It’s apparently still open season on Coptic Christians in Egypt, as four were brutally murdered in the last 10 days, with a Muslim man admitting to killing one for running a shop that sold alcohol.

The descriptioins of the killings were horrific.

Raymond Ibrahim writing for Jihad Watch has the news:

“On January 3, a Muslim man of the Salafi variety crept up behind a Copt, 45, and slit his throat, killing him in Alexandria. The murderer’s reasoning was that the Christian man owned a shop that sold alcohol, which the Salafi deemed “contrary to the shar‘ia [Islamic law] and the religion [Islam].”

“A couple of days later, as reported in a January 6 report, a Coptic man, 62, and his wife, 55, were found slaughtered in their home in Monufia, north Egypt. The Christian couple’s throats were slit and their bodies had multiple stab wounds. Nothing was stolen from their apartments; it was a hate crime.

“Then, on Friday, January 13, another Christian man, a young surgeon, was found slaughtered in his apartment in Asyut, southern Egypt. He too had stab wounds to his neck, chest, and back. Colleagues of the doctor say he was well mannered and seemed to get along with everyone.”

The murders come on the heels of a December bombing of a Coptic Christian Cathedral compound in Egypt that left dozens dead – the largest attack on a Christian place of worship in the country since 2011.

The bomb blew at the main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo, leaving 25 dead and 49 injured. Egypt’s government condemnded the attack

And that attack came after Coptic Christians expressed dismay in September about the persecution they said they’ve been facing for some time.

From the New York Times in September 2016:

“[I]n Minya … a city on the banks of the Nile where about 40 percent of the population is Christian,” the newspaper reported, “violence against Christians often flares. …

“‘We are at a breaking point,’ Bishop Makarios said. ‘People can’t put up with any more of this.’”