Suspected extremists kill at least seven Copts in Egypt

Suspected Islamic militants killed at least seven people and wounded 12 others in an attack Friday on a bus transporting Coptic Christians in Egypt, according to officials. The Copts were near the Monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor in the Minya province when they were ambushed by gunmen. Coptic Orthodox Church spokesman Bouls Halim said the death toll would likely rise. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State (ISIS) offshoot in Egypt has repeatedly targeted Copts in the country. In a similar incident last year, more than two dozen Copts died on the way to the same monastery south of Cairo. ISIS claimed responsibility for that attack. Coptic Christians make up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population in the majority-Muslim nation.