Mohamed Abd El Ghany
The number of those killed in an attack on a bus carrying Christians near Cairo on Friday has risen to 29, as the so-called Islamic State claimed responsibility on Saturday. At least 13 others remain hospitalized after the attack, in which gunmen stormed a bus heading to a Christian monastery. The ISIS-affiliated Amaq news agency said a unit of the terrorist group carried out the attack, putting the death toll at 32. The bloodshed prompted the Egyptian military to conduct airstrikes on bases in eastern Libya where it says ISIS militants train. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who declared a three-month state of emergency after deadly attacks on Christian churches in April, has condemned the latest violence in a phone call to the pope of the Coptic church in Egypt, saying authorities will not rest until the perpetrators are caught. Friday’s violence was the fourth attack on Christians in the country since December.