Gunmen Kill 26 Christians, Including Kids, In Egyptian Bus Attack

A group of potentially ISIS-related gunmen reportedly attacked a bus full of Coptic Christians in Egypt, killing 26 people and wounding at least 25 others.

The militants attacked the bus, which was on its way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, days after ISIS claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester… and months after Donald Trump promised he would have a plan to completely “destroy” ISIS in 30 days.

As was the case in Manchester, children were killed in the bus attack in Egypt. According to the BBC’s report:

The Copts killed on Friday had been travelling to St Samuel’s monastery to pray.

Their bus was in a small convoy that was stopped on a desert road near Adwa police station. Between eight and 10 gunmen wearing military uniforms attacked the convoy, officials cited witnesses as saying. The gunmen then fired at the vehicles with automatic weapons before fleeing in three 4×4 vehicles, they added.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the BBC reports that ISIS has targeted Coptic Christians before and promised to do so again. Copts make up about 10 percent of the 92 million residents of Egypt.

There have also been a number of other attacks on Coptic Christians in Egypt, including two suicide bombings on Palm Sunday in April that killed 44 people and hurt more than 100.

This recent wave of attacks constitutes further evidence that the state of discrimination in Egypt, which hosts the Middle East’s largest Christian population, is different than in the United States, where Christians are the majority. We hear from Trump and Mike Pence, among many others, that Christians in America are persecuted. Not like this, they’re not.

Maybe Trump, who promised to destroy ISIS and be the “greatest representative of the Christians,” should step up his efforts to promote peace in these areas. So far, his priorities seem to be more geared toward berating the media and promoting division through unwanted and unneeded border walls and travel bans.

(Screenshot via YouTube)