Craig Kelly (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Last Friday a group of around 60 Coptic Christians headed off in a convoy in two buses making their way to the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor, 135 kilometres south of Cairo. They were going to pray. They were stopped by 10 masked attackers dressed in military uniforms, who opened fire on them with military weapons. The death toll currently stands at 29, with another 20 people injured, some still in a critical condition. One of the victim's cousins said: 'They had no mercy. They shot the men, the children and the women—everybody.' Islamic State has claimed responsibility.

This follows other attacks on the Coptics. Two churches were bombed on 9 April and 45 people were killed. Back in December, at a bombing of a church in Cairo, a further 21 Coptic Christians were killed. We give all strength to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to stamp down on the terrorism in their nation. We send our condolences to the Coptic people. Also I stand with the words of President Trump, who said:

… this steels our resolve to bring nations together for the righteous purpose of crushing the evil organisations of terror, and exposing their depraved, twisted, and thuggish ideology.

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