Assassination Attempt Against Coptic Bishop of Minya

Coptic Bishop Anba Makarious, General Bishop of Minya, escaped an apparent assassination attempt earlier today, one of the highest-ranking Christian figures to come under fire in the sectarian violence that has torn Upper Egypt since August. Bishop Makarious was reportedly visiting a church in the Abu Qurqas region of Minya Governorate when his car was fired upon; he and his driver escaped unharmed.

Minya Governorate has one of the largest populations of Copts in Upper Egypt and is also a hotbed of political Islamists; church burnings in Minya were reported after the crackdown against the Muslim Brotherhood in August.