Anti-Christian violence continues in Egypt according to local sources. There were two separate incidents on January 19, in Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt (south and north). The first incident was directly related to the parliamentary elections, with the violence by Muslim Salafists aimed at preventing Christians from voting. In the village of al-Rahmaniya Qibli near the city of Nag Hammadi in Qena governorate, a Muslim crowd attacked houses, huts, shops and businesses, shouting \"Allahu Akbar\". A 16-year-old boy was hit by a bullet and a 40-year-old man suffered facial injuries.<\/p>\n
Witnesses tell the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) that the security forces did not intervene quickly enough to repel the attack and defend the Christians. Even the fire brigade delayed their intervention, arriving only 1\u00bd hours after the attack when most of the buildings were already in flames. One source adds that a hut belonging to a Christian was burned down to make way for the construction of a mosque. There are already 300 mosques in the area, while there is only one Christian church, even though local Christians make up half the population.<\/p>\n
According to the Christians, the anti-Christian violence is related to the parliamentary elections. The Salafists want to prevent the Christian minority from voting, as their 20,000 votes could upset the balance of power in the area. The Christians are close to the moderate Muslim wing, which opposes the Islamists. A witness confirmed that \"no Copt (Christian) from al-Rahmaniya Qibli could vote,\" and that \"the Salafists will win the elections.\"<\/p>\n
In another incident on the same day, Salafists and Muslim Brotherhood members broke into the Abu Maqar Church in Bahtim in the governorate of Qalyubia, just north of Cairo. When they broke in, they claimed to members of the church that the church building was illegal. One extremist also said that the 1,300 square meter building \"is perfect for building a mosque and a hospital.\" The local bishop, who was in charge of inaugurating the church and celebrating the first mass, has suspended all services for security reasons, sparking anger and disappointment among the entire congregation.<\/p>\n
(Source: AINA)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"gamle_kategorier":[],"land":[481],"class_list":["post-1857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ikke-kategoriseret","land-egypten","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n