Christian Children Injured As Egyptian Police Open Fire On Copts

Thursday, December 9, 2010
By BosNewsLife Middle East Service
by Stefan J. Bos

CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Scores of Coptic Christian children are recovering from injuries and nearly two dozen minors remain detained after Egyptian security forces opened fire on unarmed Copts protesting against the authorities' decision to halt the construction of a church, rights investigators said Thursday, December 09.

Advocacy group International Christian Concern (ICC) quoted activist Mona Farous as saying that 38 children have been treated in hospital, and the group added that at least 20 others remain behind bars following the November 24 skirmishes in a poor suburb of the capital Cairo.

The children are among over 150 Copts arrested following the protests, in which four Copts were reportedly killed, including three young men and a four-year-old child who apparently suffocated from tear gas. the rest

"Security forces fired on the unarmed protesters with live ammunition and rubber bullets. Both Copts and security forces threw stones at each other," added ICC.