An Egyptian Coptic Christian was gunned down by suspected ISIS militants as he made his way to the school where he teaches.
According to Christian Today, Gamal Tawfiq, 50, was targeted by the militants who shot him in the head as he made his way to El-Samran School in el-Arish, Northern Sinai, where he works as a teacher.
The suspected militants were riding a motorbike and reportedly followed Tawfiq from his home.
Tawfiq’s murder marks the second Christian killed in under a week.
Another Coptic Christian, Bahgat Zakher, was also killed by militants. In recent months, there have been several other Christian-targeted killings in Egypt, including five Coptic Christians who had their throats slashed in January, and a massive suicide bombing of a church in December that killed 27 people and wounded over 40.
Christian persecution has been increasing in Egypt, which is number 17 on Open Doors 2017 World Watch List for Christian persecution.
"For long, incidents of shooting and killing Christians were sporadic, but recently we are witnessing an increase that I think will turn into a repetitive pattern in el-Arish," said Ishaq Ibrahim, a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.
The majority of Egypt’s population is Sunni Muslim, while Christians account for about 10 percent of the population.
Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotots.com
Publication date: February 17, 2017
