Islamic Summer…
Several Christian families fled their homes in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula after receiving death threats from local Islamists.
Several Christian families have fled their homes in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula after receiving death threats from suspected Islamist militants, officials and residents. (AFP)
Middle East Online reported:
Several Christian families have fled their homes in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula after receiving death threats from suspected Islamist militants, officials and residents said on Friday.
Last week, flyers began circulating in the town of Rafah on the Gaza Strip border demanding that its tiny Coptic population move out, residents said.
Officials at the local church informed the authorities of the threats, but no action was taken, they added.
Days later, a shop belonging to one of the families was fired on with automatic rifles, witnesses said.
The events prompted the families to leave Rafah but there were conflicting accounts over whether they had done so voluntarily or been evicted.
“The families have left Rafah and gone to El-Arish,” one official said on condition of anonymity.