A group of residents in Al-Tal Al-Qibliya village in Abu Qurqas district of Minya governorate attacked the village church, surrounded it, prevented Christian worshippers from leaving, and smashed a priest’s car, according to a post by Anba Macarius, Bishop of Minya and its affiliated dioceses.
In a post on X on Wednesday morning, Bishop Macarius wrote, “Some extremists are currently attacking Copts in Al-Tal Al-Qibliya village in Minya, smashing the priest’s car, preventing worshipers from leaving the church, and cutting off the electricity. Officials had been notified several times about previous acts of harassment, documented with photos and videos confirming the repeated attacks.”
About three hours later, he wrote another post, announcing that calm had returned to the village after police forces arrived and arrested those accused of inciting and participating in the violence. He added, “They are now under investigation. The damage has also been assessed, the injured have been sent for treatment, and compensation for those affected is being considered,” thanking officials for their swift response.
A church source familiar with the events told Al Manassa, speaking on condition of anonymity, that security forces had deployed in the village and brought the situation under control. The source said several people suffered minor injuries after being hit with stones, with no fatalities reported.
The source added that the material damage was limited to the destruction of the priest’s car, noting that the situation had been difficult, with panic spreading among Christians after extremists attacked the church.
The church source attributed the crisis to objections from some village residents to Christians holding prayers at the church, saying they reject its presence in their neighborhood.
In January, Minya Governor Major General Emad Kadwani announced approval for the legalization of the status of 45 churches and church service buildings across the governorate, implementing Cabinet Decision No. 82 of 2025 in accordance with the law governing the construction and restoration of churches.
According to the religious freedoms map issued by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Minya governorate recorded 50 incidents of discrimination and sectarian violence between 2017 and 2021, including attacks based on religious identity, the practice of religious rituals, or the expression of opinion. That was the highest rate among Egypt’s governorates.
In a previous article for Al Manassa, Egyptian Initiative researcher Ishak Ibrahim described Minya as a sectarian hotspot, noting that it has been fertile ground for extremism since the late 1970s. Many leaders of the Islamic Group, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Salafi movements emerged from the governorate. He linked that legacy to its long history of terrorist attacks and religiously motivated violence since the early 1990s, including the aftermath of the dispersal of the Rabaa and Nahda sit-ins and the two attacks targeting visitors to the Monastery of Saint Samuel in 2017 and 2018.
Despite officials saying that addressing the root causes of sectarian tensions requires both security measures and broader community engagement, state institutions continue to treat sectarian crises primarily as a security issue. They often intervene only after violence erupts, relying on superficial, short-term solutions that restore calm without addressing the underlying causes of sectarian tension.
