Egyptian Coptic Christian killed, house torched

A Coptic Christian was shot dead Thursday and his house set on fire in Egypt’s North Sinai, a stronghold of the ISIS group, security officials and medics said. It was the third death this week linked to militants in violence against the minority community.

The 40-year-old man was shot in the neck at his home in El-Arish, the provincial capital of restive North Sinai, and militants set the house on fire, they said. His death comes a day after two Coptic Christians, a father and his son, were found murdered behind a school in El-Arish.

ISIS, which has mostly targeted Egypt’s security forces since the army overthrew president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, warned on Sunday it would set its sights on the country’s Christians. On December 11, the militants claimed a suicide bombing during a service in a Coptic church in Cairo, killing 29 people.