Islamic militants in Egypt kill a bus full of Coptic Christians.

The Monastery of  St. Samuel the Confessor, the location of the pilgrimage. NBC New/EPA.

Islamic militants in Egypt have killed a bus full of Coptic Christians on a pilgrimage to a remote desert monastery. NBC News. It is unclear how many people died in the attack with Egyptian officials claiming 7 dead and 12 wounded while local forces say that at least 10 people were dead. As of this writing no group has taken credit for the attack but the attack resembles ISIS attacks in the region. Last year more Coptic Christians were murdered on their way to St. Samuel's with 30 dead in an ISIS attack. ISIS has been very active in targeting Christians and have not been defeated in the Sinai peninsula which is serving as a major base of operations. 

My Comment:

This story isn't getting much attention internationally. Obviously some outlets are covering it, with NBC news being one, but the media is largely focused on the US 2018 midterms. The plight of the Coptic Christians in Egypt is one of the more under-reported stories of recent history so I thought I would do my part to spread the word. 

I have very little doubt that this attack was committed by ISIS. The terror group is obviously pretty powerful in the region and there aren't really any other major groups active in Egypt, and the ones that do exist haven't been targeting the Coptic Christians. It's always possible that a different terror group was responsible for this attack, but I wouldn't put money on it.

ISIS is still very active in Egypt. Though their insurgency has taken quite a bit of damage in Egypt they are in better shape than the other main ISIS groups, with Afghanistan being the other major exception. Though ISIS has made a small comeback in Syria an Iraq, Egypt is probably their largest or second largest ISIS base left in the world. 

ISIS seems to have taken a different tract in Egypt. Though ISIS has taken and held territory in Egypt they are mostly a terror group there. And instead of trying to target the government, they tend to focus their attacks on the Coptic Christians. This has lead to the deaths of many Copts and many of them have fled the country. 

It is odd to me that Egypt hasn't been able to effectively combat ISIS. Egypt has a large and decent military and can fight. They do have some peripheral involvement in the Yemen mess, but it's a token commitment at best. They may fear that the war could spiral out into a regional one but you would think they could spare enough forces to burn out the ISIS terrorists in the Sinai.

Of course Egypt isn't the most stable country around, even if they didn't have an ISIS insurgency. They have had multiple governments over the past couple of years and I think they fear that they could have another revolution. Al-Sisi has been a good president but you never know what can happen in a country like Egypt. 

As for the Coptic Christians, they are still in serious danger. Even without ISIS they are a persecuted minority in Egypt. Though the government is on their side, they can't seem to protect them. Though they are a long way from being wiped out, I do fear that one of the oldest Christian communities in the world may go the way of so many Christian communities in the Middle East.