Coptic priest shot dead in Egypt attack: Sources

CAIRO - Reuters

A general view shows Egyptians standing outside an Egyptian police camp riddled with bullet holes near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on July 5. AFP photo

Gunmen shot dead a Coptic Christian priest in Egypt's lawless Northern Sinai on July 6 in what could be the first sectarian attack since the military overthrow of the elected President Mohamed Morsi, security sources said.

The priest, Mina Aboud Sharween, was attacked in the early afternoon while walking in the Masaeed area in El Arish.

The shooting in the coastal city of El Arish was one of several attacks believed to be by Islamist insurgents that included firing at four military checkpoints in the region, the sources said.

Today's attacks on checkpoints took place in al-Mahajer and al-Safaa in Rafah, as well as Sheikh Zuwaid and al-Kharouba.

he violence follows attacks in which five police offers were killed in El Arish on yesterday.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood has fiercely criticised Coptic Pope Tawadros, spiritual leader of Egypt's 8 million Christians, for giving his blessing to the removal of the president and attending the announcement by armed forces commander General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi suspending the constitution.