Egypt detains 15 after dozens attack Coptic church south of Cairo

CAIRO – Egyptian authorities have detained 15 people pending an investigation into an attack on an unlicensed Coptic Christian church in a village south of Cairo, a security source said on Sunday.

Dozens of Muslims from the village of Kafr al-Waslin attacked the church after Friday prayers, smashing the windows and breaking everything inside, the archdiocese of Atfih said in a statement.

The diocese had applied to legalize the status of the church, which has housed worshippers for 15 years after a church building law was passed in 2016, the statement said.

Those detained are accused of stirring sectarian strife, harming national unity and destroying private property, one judicial source told Reuters.